Creatures of the Force
by The Dorky Dragon
Summary: Galbatorix has unleashed a destructive new ally upon the Varden just after the Battle of the Burning Plains. One with weapons and armor that can defeat even magic users with ease. The Varden now face their darkest hour. However, unbeknownst to both them and Galbatorix, a new war looms on the horizon thanks to this new foe. One that could destroy their entire world.
1. Prelude

_Creatures of the Force_

 _For the past year, the destructive Clone Wars has waged across the galaxy, costing billions of lives for all involved in it._

 _The Confederacy of Independent Systems, led by the sinister Count Dooku, and their droid armies have fought against the Galactic Republic, led by the vigilant Jedi, and their clone armies in hopes of becoming the new order of rule in the galaxy._

 _Nothing has seemed to give the Separatists an upper hand in the fighting, not even Dooku's two deadly apprentices, the cyborg General Grievous and the Sith assassin Asajj Ventress. That was. until now._

 _Recently, an egg of a previously unknown reptilian species was discovered in the horde of a pirate's cache in the Outer Rim. It has now made its way to the hands of the Separatists, and, more importantly, Dooku himself._

 _Prolonged studies on the seemingly unbreakable stone-like egg has revealed something astonishing: the creature within is Force-sensitive._

 _However, due to being unable to open the egg without killing the creature within, Dooku has been unable to discover the true capabilities of said creature. It has, however, allowed him to discover its planet of origin: a previously unknown habitable planet in the far reaches of the Outer Rim. One with no technology._

 _Ordered by his master, the mysterious Darth Sidious, to find out exactly how powerful the Force is within this creature, and if there are anymore in existence, Dooku has sent a probe droid to scout out this new planet beforehand, and what it has showed him is something else surprising: civilization on the planet. A primitive one, but a civilization at that._

 _Dooku has sent a message to the leader of this new planet's civilization, whoever he or she may be, in hopes that a diplomatic measure can be used to speed the task his master has given hi towards its completion..._

* * *

 _The war with the Varden has taken more effort than Galbatorix had previously thought._

 _In the past few months, his trusted second-in-command, the Shade known as Durza, had been slain at a crushing defeat at Farthen Dur. Not only that, but his best spies stationed in the Varden, the Twins, had been killed at the recent battle at the Burning Plains._

 _On the bright side, one of his dragon eggs had hatched for Murtagh, the bastard son of his former number two, Morzan. And, the entirety of the traitorous village of Carvahall had been burned to ash and cinders, with a good portion of its population killed as well._

 _Despite his army's recent defeats, Galbatorix remained calm. He still had plenty of time before the Varden and their allies were ready to converge on Uru'baen, and they still had quite a few cities to go through before they got to him. Plus, he had his new Rider and the Ra'zac to keep them at bay, aided by several thousand soldiers and magicians. He would surely discover the True Name before then._

 _However, despite this, a new revelation had dawned on him._

 _Just two days ago, a few of his soldiers had brought him a strange object that had seemingly fallen from the skies near Uru'baen. Then, the object had come to life and delivered him a message from an unknown man who called himself Count Dooku._

 _Although impressed with the strange magic the Count had sent him, he was uninterested in what the man had to say until the blue, recorded scry held up an item of extreme interest to him: a dragon egg._

 _He had believed there to be only three eggs left in existence, and two of them already to have hatched. So, whether this was a trick or not, this certainly interested the King. Especially when this Count Dooku expressed interest to talk with him about the egg._

 _Oh yes, Galbatorix was certainly going to message this mysterious man back..._

* * *

 **I am sorry if this chapter is a little corny and a little short. It's just my best attempt at an extended version of one of the text crawls from the beginning of a _Star Wars_ film.**

 **The next chapter(which should be uploaded along with this prelude) will feature an actual story in it.**

 **So, stay tuned for the true beginning of Creatures of the Force!**


	2. The Count and The King

**Alright. Here we start the first _true_ chapter of the story. Hope you enjoy. :)**

* * *

Galbatorix smirked ever so slightly as he made his way towards the private room which held the mysterious object, or "droid", as the Count had put it.

Two days ago, this droid had delivered him a message that could probably be described as the best message the King had even received during his lifetime, other than the one that informed him of the hiding place of Vrael during the Fall of the Riders.

This Count Dooku possessed something that the King not only desperately needed, but something he also desperately wanted. A _fourth_ surviving dragon egg.

He had previously thought that only three eggs had been salvaged from the dragons before they had been slaughtered, and two of them had already hatched. But now, a fourth one had shown up in the possession of a Count whose domain obviously wasn't within Galbatorix's.

 _If this Dooku has obtained one of their eggs, it is entirely possible that he could have more of them just waiting by._ The King thought to himself.

A consciousness brushed against his own as a deep, rather bitter voice invaded his thoughts, _Perhaps he has an army of dragons of his own._

 _I highly doubt so, Shruikan_ , Galbatorix responded to his bonded mount, _In his strange message, he seemed utterly confused at what exactly the egg was._

Shruikan let out a mental sigh, _Shame. I was hoping he'd finally be someone to topple you._

 _You know, I could punish you severely for saying such treasonous things._

 _But you won't._ The dragon spat back.

 _True. But, only because any damage done to you, I immediately feel._

 _Lucky me._ Shruikan said sarcastically, _Have a horrible time at your meeting._

The dragon's consciousness withdrew just as Galbatorix reached the room where he had placed the droid.

It was a large dining hall designed for large parties of people. But, since the only people to ever enter his palace were servants, soldiers and dead men, the hall rarely saw use. However, because of this, it was a relatively private room.

Lighting the torches on the walls with quick bursts of magic, Galbatorix sat down at the table and looked to the round droid upon it.

Small, blue, and resembling some kind of spider, the droid seemed lifeless at the moment, as if it had been dead for many centuries. That was, until Galbatorix called out to it.

"Droid, or, whatever you call yourself, awaken!"

At Galbatorix's command, the droid, sprang to life. Hovering just above the table, sounds emitted from the droid's body as it reactivates itself. Once it had, it turned back to face Galbatorix.

"Are you ready now to respond to my master?" It asked in a deadpan tone.

"Yes, I am." Galbatorix responded.

"One moment while I connect you to him…" the droid then began to emit strange noises, hovering in place.

Galbatorix took this short time to quickly adjust the scabbard and sword strapped to his belt, carefully making sure that Vrangr wouldn't fall from its place at his side. Then, he resumed his stoic position.

 _Alright, Count. Let's have ourselves a little chat..._

* * *

"Count Dooku. You have an incoming transmission from a probe droid."

Dooku, who had been quietly meditating in his quarters, halted his deep meditation as the tactical droid spoke. Taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes and faced the droid.

"What system is the probe transmitting from?"

The tactical droid took a moment to type on a datapad, before responding, "An unrecorded one, my lord. One in the Outer Rim Territories."

 _So, it seems I've garnered a response. Took long enough._

"Prepare the projector for response. I'll be there in one minute."

"Yes, my lord." The tactical droid left to do his task.

Dooku stood up and stretched a bit, before grabbing his lightsaber and strapping it to his belt. He then grabbed his cape, and wrapped it around himself.

 _Let's hope this cretin is at least capable of intelligent speech. I'd hate to be stuck talking for an hour via a translation error._

The Count made his way into the next room, where the tactical droid was waiting for him. A small light flashed on the console and a constant beeping sounded.

Dooku made his way to the chair situated near the projector and sat down. He then turned to the tactical droid. "Leave."

"As you wish, my lord." The droid quickly strolled out of the room.

As soon as he was gone, Dooku cleared his throat and clicked the light on the console. The beeping stopped and the holographic image of a human male appeared.

"Ahh…Count Dooku, I presume?" The man said in a suave tone.

The man appeared to be in his mid to late thirties, and had long black hair flowing from his head, complete with a matching beard. A long cape flowed from his back downwards, and his head was even fitted with a crown. On his belt, Dooku also happened to notice a rather primitive looking sword.

Dooku replied in an almost unamused tone, "And to whom am I speaking to?"

The man chuckled a bit before responding, "I am Galbatorix, King of Alagaësia. And I must say that your message was a lovely little surprise that made my week."

"Then you must know the reason of why I sent my probe there in the first place."

"Oh, yes, you want to learn more of that strange egg you carry with you now. Well, I can certainly say that there is no place better to learn about it than here in my land. Those eggs are a bit of a precious thing here."

Dooku leaned forward a bit in his chair, "Yes. Most importantly, what exactly the types of creatures within them are and if there are more of these creatures present on your planet."

Galbatorix paused for a moment, obviously thinking, before he began to explain, "The creatures in these eggs are known as dragons. An extremely beautiful species. Just as intelligent as us humans, and far more graceful. They represent a form of magic still largely unknown and much more fascinating than any we already know of."

"Dragons? How could a simple flying lizard be so important?"

"Oh, believe me, Count, they are more important than you know."

"And are there more of these 'dragons' in your world?"

Galbatorix flashed a smirk, "Oh, well I can assure you that _plenty_ of them exist here. In fact, I have one of them in my very own home."

"Would it be possible for me to see it?"

"I don't think so. He is asleep at the moment, and certain…problems arise when he is disturbed."

Dooku let out an inaudible sigh, "Then, would you at least be kind as to show me another member of their species? It is a matter of utmost importance. One that could decide the fate of a war."

Galbatorix's ears perked up immediately at the mention of a war, "Really now? Well, I'd be happy to help you…for a price, of course."

"I don't believe prices are required for a simple negoti-"

"Oh, but I believe they are, Count. The dragons you want are of great importance to us both. And if you want some of them, I think it's a perfect opportunity to get something out of it myself."

 _Of course._ "What exactly do you want?"

Galbatorix grinned ear to ear, quickly shifting in his seat. "Well, like you, I'm a little desperate to end a war. A group of scoundrels and rebels have recently began to win large-scale battles against my own troops. That has begun to shake up faith in my people. The faith in their ruler. Now, I could easily crush these fiends myself, but unfortunately, I have much more pressing matters to attend to, so I cannot do both at once."

Dooku did not respond when Galbatorix paused, so, the king continued, "Since you are a count, and are obviously not under my reign, it is safe to assume you have some sort of army at your disposal. Am I correct?"

Dooku replied with a very cold, "Yes."

"Then you obviously have the means to ship troops if you are able to send a message with this droid. And assuming my men were not drunk or mad when they saw it, it's safe to assume that you have a very fast way to get them from place to place. _Much_ faster than any ship or ground march could. So, taking this things into consideration, I know what I want: help."

"Pardon?" Dooku was not surprised at all, but in order to play to this buffoon's wishes, a small act was required.

"You heard me correctly." Galbatorix stood up and began to slowly pace around the room he was in. "As much as I hate to admit it, and although I certainly have enough men and supplies and competent enough military leaders, I fear that these rebels will do more damage to my cities than I had previously thought. Therefore, I want you to send me a portion of your armies to help eradicate these vermin so I can work in peace. Then, after they are good and dead, I can lend you a few dragons eggs for you and your land to use as tokens of my appreciation. And, I'll even throw you some of the knowledge we've learned about them."

Dooku pondered for a moment, _A powerless king who refuses to help his people and would rather study who knows what. Sounds like a scoundrel the Jedi would have disposed of before the war. Still, he may prove useful to our cause if he upholds his end of the bargain. It appears his world even lacks any form of modern technology, so the Confederacy should have no problem wiping out an insignificant rebellion._

The Count turned back to Galbatorix, who was still smiling as he stared at Dooku, "So, do we have a deal, dear Count?"

"…yes…we do. I'll send my best general and a few legions of battle droids to assist with your rebel plight. Expect his ships over your palace within three days. Just keep my droid switched on so it can act as a beacon."

"I humbly swear." The King gave a mock bow.

"Yes, well, if you'll excuse me, I have other business to attend to. Contact me should you require anything else."

"Of course."

"And Galbatorix. For your sake, I'd not double-cross me. You'll feel pain like you've never felt before if you do."

The King's face, although still with a smile upon it, showed hints of anger as he responded with a slightly colder, "Of course, Count. Although, I must say the same to you."

Without another word, Dooku reached over and turned the projector off, ending the call. He sat there for a moment, contemplating the deal he had just made with a half-brained, barbarian king of a backworld.

 _Let's hope this deal is worth it. If this buffoon is wasting my time, I'll fry him until his flesh peels off._

The Count called for the tactical droid to come back in, and once it did, he commanded it, "Contact the Invisible Hand, tell General Grievous that Lord Tyranus has a new assignment for him."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

 _What a bastard! Telling_ me _, the great Galbatorix, to not double-cross him! That old fool has no idea who he wishes to trifle with!_

 _It would be unwise to kill him immediately. After all, he has a dragon egg with him._ Shruikan spoke to him once more, _The possibility of a fourth Rider has opened up._

 _Yes, but only if we can acquire it from Dooku._

 _A fact that will be made even more difficult when the Varden are wiped out. Besides, when Dooku finds out that you only have one egg and that there are very few dragons left in Alagaesia, I can't imagine he'll be too happy._

Galbatorix laughed a bit internally, _Once he does, we'll simply kill him and his general and take over his estates and army. As well as take the egg from his cold, dead corpse._

 _He could be a threat._

 _A threat to me? The most powerful being in existence? Please, Shruikan! You really do have a sense of humor._

 _You never know._

 _I do know, in fact. I have control over ten thousand Eldunari, and have magic barriers that have lasted for decades. He'd be lucky to prick my finger._

 _Lets just wait until this general of his comes. The, we can determine how powerful he is and if he is truly a threat._

 _Yes, I suppose..._

Galbatorix shifted to stare at Dooku's droid, which was now hovering around the room, emitting what sounded like words in strange, garbled language.

Like many of his former partners, Dooku would simply be used for his personal gain, and would then be cast aside like a simple toothpick.

And soon, more importantly, the Varden and their precious Rider hero would either bow before him, or be destroyed by the might of his forces.

* * *

 **Well, there we go! The first real chapter of the story.**

 **Reviews are always appreciated. Whether they're positive, negative, or in between, they'll help me flesh out the future chapters better and more frequently. Plus, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the story itself :)**

 **See ya next time!**

 **Oh, and PS, the timeframe for this story's beginning would be directly after the Ryloth arc during the first season of _The Clone Wars_ for _Star Wars_ , and in between _Eldest_ and _Brisingr_ for _The Inheritance Cycle_. Just thought I'd point that out.**


	3. Dream Demons

_The spires of Dras-Leona's large cathedral towered over Eragon as he stared up at them. Their blackened stones looking like a work of both beauty and terror. The cathedral was truly a wonder of the world. It was the pride and joy of Dras-Leona. Especially for the sick and twisted individuals who worshipped within its walls._

 _Eragon turned away from it after a brief moment of staring in awe and disgust, beginning to head for the city itself._

 _He hadn't been into Dras-Leona itself since he and Brom had visited it in hopes of slaying the Ra'zac the first time. They had failed, and it had resulted in a hasty escape and the death of Brom himself, an event that still shook Eragon to this day._

 _Eragon quietly walked through the streets, cloaked in a hooded garb that he did not remember putting on. Although, he was glad that it was on his person. He did not want to attract attention to himself, especially given the new elven features on his face._

 _However, that quickly faded from Eragon's concern, as he realized one little detail: the city was vacant._

 _Not one person roamed the streets of Dras-Leona. Not one shop opened, and every house seemed to be either boarded up or ransacked. It was as if the city itself had been abandoned for a decade or two. And, an even more disturbing fact was that not only were no humans present, but neither were any animals. Not even rats or birds. He couldn't even locate the presence of a single insect._

 _"Hello?!" He called out. No answer came._

 _Had Eragon had a weapon on him, he would have been gripping it tightly now. The empty buildings giving him a sense of dread and fear, and the fact that this was the perfect setup for an ambush was ever present._

 _Eragon walked for what seemed like an eternity, until he finally heard the sounds of footsteps. Both eager and wary, he made his way towards the source of the sound, which got louder and heavier as he approached. It was clear that whoever it was, they were wearing metal boots of some kind._

 _He turned a corner, and found whom he was looking for. A tall man, one who towered over Eragon, dressed in a grey cape, which wrapped around the man's head, neck and torso with ease. The man also wore a set of full body iron armor, a type Eragon had never seen before. It certainly gave the impression that the man wasn't very muscular. Finally, the man also had a long iron staff which he used as a walking tool. He appeared to be heading for the outskirts of town._

 _Normally, a figure like this would rouse suspicion in Eragon, but the fact this man did not wear the emblems or colors of Galbatorix comforted him a little. However, that did not mean he could just let his guard down. Still, he had to know who this man was and where the people of Dras-Leona had gone._

 _"Excuse me!" He called out to the figure._

 _The man immediately stopped walking, an halted in place. He did not move, nor did he speak. Eragon took this opportunity to speak further._

 _"I've been looking for inhabitants of the city, and I haven't been able to find anyone except you!"_

 _Still no response or motion from the figure. Eragon came a little closer._

 _"Would you happen to know where they are or what happened to them?"_

 _Eragon was now a few yards away from the figure. The two stood in what used to be a marketplace, as evidenced by the tipped over or destroyed carts and wagons that littered the round area._

 _There was a moment of brief silence, before the figure turned to face Eragon. Only, instead of the face of a man or even the helmet of a warrior, he was met with the face of a demon._

 _The monster's entire body was made entirely out of metal, almost like a suit of armor. A bright, red, glowing light emitted from its midsection. An elongated mouth sat upon its face, frozen and unmoving in a position of shock. But, the most striking feature of the monster was its eyes: red and glowing, like the spot on its chest. Only these seemed to stare right into Eragon's very spirit. They did not blink, nor did they seem to study him like a man's or elf's or even an Urgal's._

 _The creature lifted its staff and spun it around, bringing it back down behind its back into a "drawn" position. It then spoke in a deep, demonic voice in its own twisted language that Eragon doubted even the oldest of the elves could recognize. Then, with a simple flick of its wrist, the staff emitted a terrible whirring noise and ignited bounds of purple lightning from its two tips._

 _Eragon was utterly dumbfounded by this creature. He was struck with mixed feelings of both fear and curiosity. But, of course, he would have little time to ponder what it was, as it had begun to approach him. He had no weapon, so magic was his only defense._

 _"Deyja." He spoke quickly._

 _The creature seemed to be unaffected, as it continued towards him, to which Eragon was once again surprised at. He didn't have time to speak another spell though, as the creature swung its staff at Eragon._

 _Eragon easily ducked under the swing, and rolled to the right. But, the demon was upon him as fast as an elf. Using both hands, it drove the staff towards Eragon's chest. Eragon rolled away once again and shouted "Garjzla!"_

 _The bolt of light from his hand slammed into the demon, knocking it back into a nearby building, creating a large crack in the stone wall. The creature dropped its staff, and hit the ground. However, it did not stay down for long as it quickly regaine composure, faster than even an elf would, and picked up its staff to attack once again._

 _Eragon had already taken off running, not caring whether he had killed the beast or not. He was just desperate to escape a creature that could shake off one of the Word of Death without even a single detectable ward on it._

 _Unfortunately for him, the monster was close behind him, as it had begun sprinting after him with the speed of a healthy elf. Eragon rounded a corner and increased his speed, hoping to lose the demon with a few quick turns. The monster was still after him, but it was much farther behind him. Another few maneuvers, and he'd lose it._

 _Fate seemed to have other plans for him though. As Eragon rounded the next corner, he was met with an even greater horror, as two more of the monsters were waiting for him, each identical in look and each carrying the same staff of violet lightning. The only difference between these and the first, were that these lacked the grey cloak that the other had been wearing._

 _Eragon came to a screeching halt as the two new monsters approached him. The whirring noise of their staffs invaded his ears once more. Behind him, the noise of the first's staff became louder, along with the metal footsteps as it neared._

 _"How..." He began to get out, but he was quickly interrupted when the two demons bolted towards him, both hands on their staffs as they spun them in an almost winding-up fashion. He had virtually no time to react, so he instinctively backed up out of the range of their first swings, and dodged any following attacks they launched. It proved to be far more difficult avoiding four lightning coated tips instead of just two._

 _However, he managed to pull it off. The creatures couldn't hit him once, despite their speed and intimidation factors. Eragon could already feel himself expending energy thanks to the previous spell he had cast and due to the amount of physical stress the routine of almost dance-like dodging put on him. He may have the stamina of an elf now, but that didn't mean it could last forever._

 _Still, he pressed on, avoiding every lunge and swing the creatures tried on him. He searched frantically for either a weak point in the demons' pattern, or for a way to flee them. He did not get much time to think however, as a wave of burning pain erupted from the lower part of his back._

 _Eragon let out a loud, pained scream as lightning coursed throughout his entire body. The first creature had caught up with him, and foolishly, he had neglected to pay attention to where it was, and he was about to pay dearly for it._

 _The lightning stopped after just a few seconds, but the burning sensation it casted wad left behind. Almost all of his strength had been sapped from the current of the lightning. He immediately collapsed to his knees, gasping for breath as the sensation began to subside. Only for it to start again from two separate areas of his back._

 _The second wave was shorter than the first, but much worse. It felt as if Durza's wound had returned twofold. When it subsided, Eragon could do little but go limp as the three creatures stood over him. Their staffs ceased to emit the lightning as their deep warbling voices spoke to each other in their demonic language._

 _The voices were the last things Eragon heard as he slipped into unconsciousness, with a single thought lingering on his mind._

Saphira…where are you?

* * *

Eragon opened his eyes to night sky as he panted heavily.

The pain in his back began to fade, but it was still present as feeling returned to his body. His heart beat like a drum and his lungs gasped for air as he began to calm down. The creatures were no longer there, and neither was the city.

 _Where...where did they go?_ Eragon thought as his mind raced. He was still in shock from the experience that it had given him. It couldn't have been real…could it?

 _No...it couldn't have been..._ He looked around, just to make sure that the monsters were gone. He found himself looking at dimming sparks of a campfire and the sleeping forms of his cousin, Roran, and his dragon, Saphira. He instantly breathed a sigh of relief.

Despite it only being a nightmare, he could still feel the burning of the lightning staffs. The eyes of the creatures still were fresh on his mind. He could still see them staring down at him…

The dream had felt real enough. There was nothing unusual about it except for the demons themselves and the vacancy of Dras-Leona. But, what had it meant?

Eragon slowly stood up from his spot, stretching for a second before observing the scenery. The dream had temporarily distracted him from where he was and what his goal here was. Then, it came back to him. He was close to the peaks of Helgrind, and he and his comrades had come for one purpose: to slay the monsters known as the Ra'zac.

That explained why his dream was in Dras-Leona, as the city was only a few miles away.

But, that did not explain what the creatures were and why they were attacking him. Had they been new agents of Galbatorix? Were they monsters working for their own desires? Or were they simply the trick of his own consciousness whilst he slept? Whatever the reason, they were gone now, and as was his tiredness.

Eragon began his way up the hill. Since it was only an hour until dawn, he might as well do some early scouting. Once at the top, he slowly peered over. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the slaves chained to the altar where still there. That meant that either the Ra'zac weren't home, or they just weren't hungry. It also meant that the party could save a couple more lives.

His relief quickly subsided though we he heard sounds getting louder and louder. Peering to his left, he found himself staring at a peculiar and slightly unsettling sight. What looked to be a platoon of soldiers marching towards Helgrind, and a good thirty or so of them. Only, these didn't look like Galbatorix's soldiers.

These warriors wore tannish colored armor instead of the Empire's crimson. They also appeared to be carrying no visible weapons, excluding the strange black objects they held in their hands. Lastly, they appeared to much skinnier than a man. In fact, they resembled un-hunched, robe-less Ra'zac the closer they got. However, they were only part of this arising problem.

The true thing Eragon had his eyes on was the monstrous war machine that followed closely behind the soldiers. A tan behemoth resembling a mushroom in shape that traveled faster than any siege weapon Eragon had seen before. A large cylinder sprung forth from the front of the machine and out at the length of almost a Kull's height. Multiple additional, but much shorter cylinders spring forth from wing-like extensions on each side of the construction.

Unlike most of the Empire's previous war machines, this one appeared to be made completely out of iron instead of wood and iron. It appeared to hover a few feet off the ground, with no point of contact to the Earth visible. Not only that, but he could find no such evidence of the soldiers in front of it pulling it. It seemed to be moving on its own.

As they approached rapidly, Eragon quickly made his way back down the hill to the campsite. He hastily woke Roran and Saphira with hushed cries of warning and some shoves.

"Roran! Saphira! Wake up! Something's wrong."

 _What is it, Little One?_ Saphira asked as she yawned and stretched.

"Soldiers are approaching Helgrind!"

That was enough to alert the two as they instantly sprung up. Roran grabbed his hammer and looked to Eragon, "Is it Murtagh? Has he already found us?"

"No! Murtagh's nowhere in sight. It's just a company of soldiers and an odd siege weapon."

Roran's face lit up with concern at the mention of "siege weapon." He and Eragon quickly sprinted to the top of the hill, with Saphira directly behind, as the platoon closed in on their destination.

* * *

 **This chapter was originally going to be longer, but, I think I've procrastinated on this story long enough. The next chapter should be out pretty soon...hopefully the pacing's a bit better...I'll probably need a beta reader sometime soon, if anyone's interested.**

 **Anyways, see you guys next time!**


	4. The Iron Soldiers

Three hours. These strange soldiers had been scouting Helgrind for nearly _three hours_ now.

Eragon sighed as he watched the strange beings work multiple tasks. Some acted as basic scouts, walking in groups of two and surveying the landscape, two of which even unchained the slaves and brought them back to the main group. Some acted as guards, guarding either the siege weapon or the two slaves that they now held as virtual prisoners. And some simply did things that neither Eragon nor either of his two companions could determine what they were.

The most odd things about these creatures was that although they seemed sentient and moved and worked like men, they acted almost like the drones of a beehive. They did exactly what they were doing without complaining and without comment. In fact, they seemed to be the perfect workers. But, that was what was off about them, aside from their appearances. They almost reminded him of less threatening, less demonic versions of the monsters from his dream last night.

Eragon was ushered out of his train of thought when Roran tapped his shoulder, "See the one on top of the weapon?"

Eragon looked atop the weapon and saw two of the beings conversing. Unlike the others, these two had markings resembling war paint on various places of their bodies. One was adorned with green paint all over, and appeared to be standing inside the weapon. The other resembled the soldiers more, but was also adorned with patches of gold on its head and shoulders. It stood on top of the weapon, and stared down at the other. It also appeared to be holding some sort of strange writing tablet.

"The one in the weapon?"

"No, the one on top, with the golden markings."

"Yes. What about it?"

Roran shifted slightly, "My gut tells me that it's the leader of the platoon. I saw it ordering some of the normal ones to carry the slaves over there."

"That still doesn't answer what their purpose at Helgrind is. I don't see any emblems or banners of Galbatorix on their armor or the weapon."

"Could they be allies of the Ra'zac? They resemble them somewhat."

"No, I don't think so." Eragon deduced, "The Ra'zac don't like the light, and it's mid-morning now. Plus, I don't see them doing anything the Ra'zac would normally do."

"Like eating the slaves?"

"Or torturing them vigorously for information or just for the sick pleasure."

"Right."

Saphira chimed in with her own observations, _These Ra'zac pretenders appear to be taking stones from the peaks themselves._ _They may be studying them._

Eragon looked to some of the creatures who were carrying black stones from Helgrind to a small encampment near the siege weapon. A small pile had begun to form, and one of them stood by it, tapping another one of those strange tablets as if it were a checklist.

 _What are they doing?_ He thought to himself as the three continued to observe.

* * *

"That'll be forty-five in total so far."

Unit 1138-B was happy right now. Well, as happy as a droid not programmed to feel emotion could feel.

He had the easiest job in the entire Separatist Army right now. All he had to do was count the number of stones the droids stacked up, and occasionally check the security probes that were roaming the landscape for a mile or two out. It was quite glorious honestly.

Ever since the Separatists had arrived on Alagaësia, 1138 could relax easy. He didn't have to worry about a clone ambush, or a full-fledged space battle, or even the wrath of General Grievous ever since he'd landed here. No, all he had to worry about was the annoying Commander droid, Unit 2387-E.

Still, despite the small inconvenience, he couldn't really complain. There were no true dangers on this world aside from boredom, and since he was a droid, he was probably safe from that.

As the forty-sixth and forty-seventh stones were laid in the pile, the beeping reminder on his datapad went off, reminding him to check the probes again.

"Alright, a quick probe, then back to counting. Easy as recharging."

1138 pulled up the security feeds on his datapad and quickly scanned through them. "Let's see here…empty field…empty field…rock spire thing…empty field…terrible city…empty field…I think we're all go-what the…"

The probe patrolling the outskirts of the camp had picked up something of note: two humans and a large, blue reptilian creature, seemingly spying on the droids' activities.

"They're not supposed to be there…" 1138 glanced in the direction of the trespassers, and sure enough, he could see their heads scanning the entire camp. "I don't think those are just random passerbyers…I'd better alert the Commander…"

1138 strolled towards the AAT, calling to 2387. Looks like this wasn't going to be a completely smooth day after all.

* * *

Eragon became alarmed when he saw the being who had been observing the stones glance in their direction, and then head towards the weapon and leader of the platoon. Both he and Roran grit their teeth and gripped their weapons as it headed out. Saphira, like a cat, got into a pouncing position, ready for when the creatures attacked…if they did.

"I think it spotted us." Roran said.

 _As do I._ Saphira added, _But, I do not think it was by chance that it saw us._ _Did you see how quickly it glanced up?_

"Maybe it's a magician?" Roran suggested.

"I don't think so." Eragon retorted, "I would have felt when it searched out with its mind. I don't think it can use magic."

"What about heightened senses?"

"More likely than it being a magician, but these creatures do not look to be as agile, strong or as intelligent as even a man. But, they haven't seemed to falter or tire even slightly."

 _I have not seen them stop to eat or drink._ Any _of them_. Saphira observed.

"Well, then maybe-"

"Shh!" Eragon silenced his cousin. A strange whirring noise filled his ears. It seemed distant, yet close at the same time, and it was behind him. It got louder as the seconds went by.

Roran heard it too, and began to look around. Both men looked for the source, until Eragon spotted it above them: a small, blue, spider-like floating creature. It appeared metal-like, similar to the creatures, and had a single glowing eye. It warbled in a strange tongue, and continuously observed the three. As soon as he spotted it, he knew it was affiliated with the creatures.

As the buzzing spider creature lowered itself nearer to them, it's warbling got quicker. However, it was quickly silenced by Saphira, who extended her neck and snapped the creature out of the air, crushing it between her jaws. She chewed on the spider for a few seconds, before spitting it out in disgust.

 _Tastes and feels like iron_. She commented.

 _Saphira!_ Eragon chastised her, _What are you doing?! You could give us away even more!_

 _The flying spider annoyed me. So, I destroyed it._ The dragoness grunted in response.

 _That doesn't matter. What if-_

"Eragon!" Roran shouted in a hushed tone, grabbing his cousin's attention. Eragon's ears immediately heard a noise that he did not recognize, but certainly did not like. It was the sound of something large and metal moving.

Wearily, Eragon turned to look at the creatures' camp site, and he suddenly felt a slight twinge of fear crawl up his spine. The siege weapon was aiming… _at them_. The creature with green war paint had disappeared, likely into the weapon itself. The leader, however, was now standing where the former had been, its right arm raised above its head in the form of an order. The additional soldiers were all flocking into battle positions, abandoning whatever tasks they had been doing beforehand and brandishing one of the strange black weapons. Even the two who were guarding the slaves did so, executing the slaves with flashes of red light firsthand. Each one of the thirty odd creatures was now facing them.

Eragon was expecting the soldiers to call out to the trio for a surrender before any combative actions broke out, but he was sorely mistaken when he heard a higher-pitched voice scream, "Fire!"

When the leader brought its arm down, the weapon let out a noise that made Eragon's ears ring. Out of the large, Kull-sized cylinder, a pume of red fire launched out towards them at an alarming speed. As it closed in, Saphira took immediate flight, grasping Eragon and Roran in her front talons. Just as she took to the air, the fireball hit where the three had once been lying. Eragon caught his breath and sighed in relief as he saw the small hilltop literally crumble from the sheer force of the blast.

Saphira flew overhead the soldiers' camp site, heading for the other side of Helgrind. Multiple beams of red light began to fire at them from the foot soldiers themselves, much faster and more frequent than arrows or even spells. Several of the beams managed to hit Saphira's underbelly, and the dragoness let out a roar of pain as she sped over the rock spires to land. Eragon's own chest and stomach lit up with a burning sensation as the linked pain hit him.

 _What kind of magic is in those weapons?_ He thought as Saphira plummeted towards the Earth, now safe from the red light in the shadow of Helgrind. She landed as softly as she could, which resulted in a rather bumpy one. She freed the men from her talons, only to jerk in pain again from the small wounds the red light had caused.

Eragon looked over Saphira cautiously, inspecting the small, charred bits of flesh where the lights had burned her. The wounds were small, and to a dragon, they were not life threatening. What was even more surprising was that the lights seemed to have burned through most of his wards and a few of her scales, reaching some flesh beneath. Saphira grunted as Eragon looked her over.

"Is she hurt?" Roran asked concerned.

"Not badly. I can probably heal all of these. It would just take some time."

 _I fear that you do not have that time right now. The soldiers are likely to come after us._ Saphira warned.

Eragon knelt beside the dragoness to heal some of the burns, but she refused him, urging him to save his strength. He hesitated, but complied. He grabbed his staff and stood beside Roran.

"Any ideas on how to deal with these things?" His cousin asked wearily.

"None that are fully thought out."

"I'd take something rather than nothing."

Eragon sighed, and repeated some of his observations to Roran, "I've noticed that none of them seem to be carrying any sort of melee weapon aside from the mining tools they were using, and those are usually hardly useful in a fight. The only weapons they seem to be carrying are those strange light-launchers."

"Think they'd be useful up close?"

"Maybe. I definitely think that the launchers are more for ranged combat than close fights, but if Saphira's burns are any indication, a single beam could kill either of us."

"Damn. Could magic be effective against them?"

"Possibly. I'd need to test it on one of them first." To Saphira, he added, _Think you could handle the siege weapon if it become an even bigger threat up close?_

 _I shall rip it apart._

 _Well, be careful. You might be able to handle the smaller beams, but I doubt even you or a Lethrblaka could withstand the giant fireball of the siege weapon..._

 _We'll see how those light-shooters fare against an angry dragon._ She mused.

Eragon was about to respond, when another booming sounded off as the siege weapon fired again, this time at Helgrind itself. The black spires shook with the ground from the force of the blast. There was silence for about half of a minute afterwards, as the trio turned to face the mountain, followed by another boom, and the spires shaking again.

The weapon continued to fire roughly every half-minute, occasionally stopping for longer, and as it did, the shots became muffled, and Helgrind began to shake more violently. _What on Earth are they doing?!_ Eragon thought to himself.

Saphira, having heard Eragon's thoughts and being genuinely curious herself, immediately stood up, stopping a second to grunt in annoyance from the burns, and took flight close to the spires to get a closer look. She returned after the weapon fired twice more with what she had discovered.

 _They're using the siege weapon to burrow_ through _Helgrind to get to us!_

 _What?! Are you sure?_

Saphira huffed, _The weapon is gone an it is nowhere in sight, and the remaining soldiers seem to be walking through rubble into the mountain._

Eragon was both impressed and horrified by the idea. If the weapon could burrow through something like Helgrind with ease, just imagine what it could do to city walls and battalions of soldiers.

As the spires shook more and more, thy became increasingly unstable. One of the ones farther back actually was beginning to crumble. The weapon seemed to be taking out the very foundations of the black structure.

The original objective of the trio's mission returned to his mind as he was thinking about what the soldiers were doing. A part of him silently prayed that the Ra'zac and Lethrblaka were inside, and that if Helgrind was destroyed by these beings, that they died with it. But, that's when another aspect of their goal hit him.

His expression from one of shock and awe to one of horror and realization. _If the Ra'zac and Lethrblaka are in there, chances are Katrina is too..._

Without hesitation, he turned to Roran, and relayed Saphira's revelation to him, "They're using the weapon to try and burrow through the mountain to get to us, and by the sound of things and Saphira's sightings, they're succeeding. If they keep going, Helgrind's likely to fall."

Another blast shook Helgrind as Roran responded, "How can they possibly-" He stopped dead in his tracks as the realization hit him too. "No!"

"If Katrina and the Ra'zac are in there when it falls, there's no way they can survive." Eragon confirmed.

"We've got to do something! Is there any way you could stop them with magic?!"

Eragon considered it for a second, but quickly dismissed it, "No. There's too many of them. Even if I could track all of the soldiers, there's no way I could stop the weapon and the being within it without killing myself."

Roran let out a yell of rage as another blast hit through the rock, "DAMN IT!"

Eragon too was frustrated. They had come so far, and now were about to possibly lose both Katrina and their chance of vengeance for Garrow's murder. Even if the Ra'zac died, Eragon was sure they could live with it. What they couldn't live with, however, was if Katrina died as well. If that happened, Roran would break completely. The only glimmer of hope was that for some reason, the Ra'zac had taken Roran's beloved out of Helgrind. But, that was a slim chance.

Still, a small hint of a plan began to form in his mind. It was risky and a bit crazy, especially considering the weapons that the soldiers had, but, if all went well, it might work. The only problem would be how well the beings reacted to the dark.

"I may have a plan." He said aloud.

"What? Really?!" Roran came to him like a dog eager to eat food from its master's hand, "Speak it!"

"It's risky and a bit insane-"

"Blast it, Eragon! Just say it!"

Eragon sighed as he began to reiterate his plan to Roran and Saphira.

* * *

1138 trudged on through the piles of rubble and rock that had once been standing strong as walls of the mountain spires. He stopped only occasionally as he followed 2387's orders, placing a thermal mine on the walls of the spires, and arming it.

His fellow battle droids did the same, working with only the light from the large opening in the tunnel further back, and the small flashlights mounted onto their shoulders. It was a rather meaningless task, but, according to 2387, the orders had come from General Grievous himself.

 _"'When you're done collecting the crystals, I want the spires destroyed. I don't care if they have any religious significance with the locals, and I don't care if any rare creatures lurk within_. _All I want are the crystals that those spires seem to produce.'"_ Was what the Commander had said when asked about their orders from the General.

Why they were burrowing through a mountain to get to two human travelers and a beast was anyone's guess. 1138 didn't think that they would do anything but tell whoever else lived where they lived what they had seen. It's not like they had ties to the Republic. In fact, they probably lived in that city the Separatists had come to occupy nearby. Was what it called? 1138 could not remember.

Still, it was admittedly a shame that they were destroying this place. The architecture in here was amazing, and impressive considering that was all done with tools thousands upon thousands of years behind what the droids carried. A good portion of the tunnel they walked through was already cleared due to tunnels within the peaks.

But, he kept his fascination with the place to himself. On more than one occasion, his fellow droids had reported him for malfunctioning due to his strange interests. Whether it was an interest in lightsabers, or in Zillo beasts, or in womprat mating cycles, it was always something. This time, it was architecture he figured.

"I should have been a protocol droid…" 1138 mumbled to himself.

"What was that?" The battle droid to his right immediately asked him.

"Nothing!" He quickly adjusted himself upright, gripping his blaster rifle firmly. The other droid shook its head and returned to walking as well.

The AAT fired again, this time shaking the structure more violently than usual. In response to this, 2387 shouted, "Hold it!"

The entire group stopped. 1138 was about to question why, when another droid did it for him, "What's going on?"

2387 climbed out of the tank and stood atop it, his head only inches away from the top of the makeshift cave. He then proceeded to relay his information rather loudly, "Seems we had less mining shells than we had previously anticipated. Only twenty-three."

"Oh, does that mean we're out of shells?"

"Not completely. We've still got two left. And we have plenty of normal shells."

"Then why don't we just use those?" The droid who had questioned 1138 asked.

"Because they aren't good for mining. They're for blowing up clones and Jedi."

"And giant, flying blue lizards?"

"If the situation call for it. And this one did…"

1138 began to tune out 2387's dialogue as the Commander began to rant on about how the two humans could've been Republic spies and the what not. He also drowned out the commotion of a few droids at the back of platoon. The battle droid began to observe the surrounding tunnels with his flashlight, hoping to find something else interesting.

Those hopes were immediately met _and_ dashed when the loud roar sounded behind the platoon, and a large, blue creature pounced into the mass of battle droids. What followed was a mass confusion of shouting, roaring, sparks flying, and the red lasers of boasters going everywhere.

1138 was suddenly happy that he didn't have an organic heart. But if he did, he was certain that he would be suffering from a heart attack right about now.

* * *

Although the plan was technically going right, a Eragon could not have anticipated what would transpire with Helgrind…at least, the way it did.

His plan was for he and Roran to sneak along the darkness of the tunnels, hiding from view until they were close enough to ambush the soldiers quickly, whereas Saphira would just cover their exit.

Things were going according to plan, until a few of the soldiers began to glance their way, strange lights protruding from their shoulders and light-launchers. That's when Roran jumped up and charged, thinking that their cover was blown. Eragon may have chatistied him for it, if he himself did not do they same right with his cousin. In fact, even Saphira abandoned the stealthy approach and hopped over the two, eager to bare his fangs and claws into those responsible for her burns.

Streams of red light and the noises of the launchers filled the cave as voices screamed in all directions. The leader of the platoon frantically tried to order his men, and when that didn't work, resorted to hurrying the soldiers within the weapon to aim it or turn it around.

 _Fools._ Eragon thought briefly, _There's no way that they can aim that thing at us quickly enough in here._

Eragon and Roran went in as brutally as they could. Much like Saphira had described, the soldiers' hides appeared to be made of pure iron, like makeshift armor. However, they also appeared to be less sturdy than a man, and if Eragon put enough pressure into a few well placed strikes, he could damage the soldiers enough to break open their hides.

Two of the soldiers came at him, blasting away with the red light. Eragon easily dodged the beams, and hurdled towards them. Using the hawthorn as a club, he brought down his first strike on the left soldier's head. It dazed it, but did not kill it. Eragon was quick to dispatch of its companion however, as he unintentionally jammed the staff right through the creature's abdomen. It surprised him, but not as much as the small but steady supply of _lightning_ that jolted from the wound, instead of blood.

 _What in the-_

His thoughts were interrupted by the other soldier, who had recovered and was preparing to fire again. Eragon twisted the staff out of its comrade, once again, unintentionally cutting it in half, and aimed another swing at the soldier's head. He felt heat brush his cheek as a beam of red light from the soldier's launcher grazed his face, leaving a small burn. In turn, his staff connected with the soldier's brow, or at least what would be the brow on a human, smashing the left part of its skull in, causing small bits of lightning to spark out. The soldier collapsed immediately, shaking violently.

Before Eragon could find another opponent, he felt a burning pain in his left thigh as something hit the back of it. Judging from the sound and flash of light, he knew that his wards had given out and that one of the beams had hit him. Thinking fast, he flipped the staff and threw it at his attacker, ramming the staff into it's chest and knocking it down. Four other soldiers readied to shoot, but Eragon swiftly descended upon them. Without the time to regain his staff, he would be forced to rely on his magic and his fists. A spell formed on his lips, but as the soldiers fired, it was lost as he frantically dodged the beams.

He routed for the nearest one as soon as he could, and slammed the soldier into the cave wall, causing the being to drop its weapon and for something to crack within it. The other three quickly aimed towards him, and fired. This time, however, he was prepared, as he raised his palm towards the beams and shouted, "Garjzla, letta!"

He half-expected the red lights to continue on their way, and for the one aimed at his face to end his life right then and there. But, to both his and the creatures' surprise, the beams halted in their tracks floating in mid-air.

"What the…" One of the three soldiers said in a voice almost identical to the leader. This confused them enough to distract them from firing for a few seconds, enough time for Eragon to slam their comrade against the wall, breaking open the back of its head and killing it. He then quickly rolled out of the way, and then released the spell, causing the lights to continue on their way and blast into the wall.

Eragon glanced to Roran and Saphira to see how they were faring, as multiple jolts of pain had started to pop up where the beams of light has grazed or hit Saphira. The red beams flashed often enough to cast some light in the cavern. The dragoness was ripping the soldiers apart into literal chunks. In fact, most of the ones who weren't fighting him or Roran or being dismembered by Saphira were running for the open tunnel, to which, several were crushed by the dragon's tail. A few did manage to make it out however.

Roran, on the other hand, was swinging his hammer like a berserker. It seemed that he had made a personal goal to push his way to the siege weapon. His hammer proved to be far more effective than Eragon's staff, as anything it hit was crushed. A few of the soldiers were even decapitated by the sheer force of Roran Stronghammer.

The three soldiers aimed at Eragon again and fired, to which the Dragon Rider simply rolled away again. This time, however, he rolled for a weapon. Not his staff, though, as it was too far away to get to without injury. No, he instead went for the closest thing he could make out: one of the light-launchers from the corpse of a defeated soldier.

As soon as he grabbed it, a sensation of unfamiliarity set in. He had no idea how to use it. It was fairly heavy in weight, but he knew it wasn't designed to be a club. He grasped the handle quickly as another few beams went over his head. There, he felt a trigger.

 _It's like a crossbow._ He realized.

The soldiers fired several before shots, before pausing to readjust their aim for a split-second. In that second, Eragon took aim of his own, and pulled the trigger. A metallic noise sounded and a red beam shot out, straight into the chest of the middle one, effectively killing it. Eragon was impressed, and surprised by the kick that came from the weapon, almost like a handheld ballista.

Quickly aiming again, he shot down the other two soldiers that faced him, decapitating one with a well placed shot to the neck, and killing the other with two shots to the chest and stomach. As they went down, Eragon turned to his cousin, who was about to be shot from behind by two soldiers. Eragon made quick work of them with the light-launcher.

Roran crushed the last ground soldier in their path with a quick blow to the head. Every other ground soldier was either being eaten or crushed by Saphira. With that, the two took a quick minute to regain themselves.

"Well, that was…interesting…" Roran panted.

"Fairly…are you hurt at all?"

"Not at all. Don't think I got hit even once."

Eragon briefly looked his cousin over, and confirmed what he had said, "I was hit once, and Saphira multiple times. Let's just say that the red lights burn like hot iron against your skin."

"Well, I can see why-" Roran was interrupted when a red light suddenly hit his right shoulder. He grunted in pain and grasped the wound as Eragon turned to see who had shot it. On top of the siege weapon, the leader was perched up, and beside him, was the green painted soldier from earlier. The latter was holding one of the light-launchers.

"Excellent shot, Captain!" The leader exclaimed in congratulations.

"Thank you!" The Captain responded, once again in the same voice, aiming his weapon towards Eragon, to which Eragon immediately aimed his back at.

The leader spoke up to Eragon, "I believe we'll be accepting your surrender now?"

Eragon let out a chuckle of disbelief, " _Our_ surrender? We've killed almost all of your men, and those that we haven't have fled. I think we'll be accepting your surrender now."

"I am a Commanding Droid in the Separatist Army! I will not throw down my arms and my mission because some scavenger picks up a blaster, and-" The leader didn't get to finish his sentence. Roran, who's anger was intensified by the wound he had received from the Captain's shot, had thrown his hammer in a fit of rage, right at the leader's head. The hammer bounced off and fell onto the weapon's side, but the head of the leading soldier almost literally popped off, flying off the weapon. The leader's headless corpse sparked lighting a few times at the base of the neck, and then it fell into the weapon with an audible _thump_.

The Captain, obviously surprised by this, constantly swapped aiming his launcher between Eragon and Roran. Eragon kept his aimed directly at the green painted soldier.

After a brief standoff, and the sudden appearance of a growling Saphira behind them, Eragon spoke up to the remaining soldier, "Throw down your weapon and come down, and I promise no harm shall come to you!"

The Captain hesitated, before responding, "How do I know this isn't just a trick?"

"I give you my word as a Rider." He said in the Ancient Language.

"…what?"

Figures a creature such as this doesn't know of the Ancient Language. "I swear no harm will come to you, from me, or either of my compatriots."

It will get no such swear from me. Saphira said as she growled. Eragon ignored her, and eyed the soldier. About twenty seconds passed before the soldier finally lowered its weapon and tossed it down. It climbed out of the siege weapon, but slipped on the top and fell. It screamed as it fell and hit the ground hard. Luckily, the fall didn't seem to kill it. "Oww…"

Eragon trained the weapon on it as Roran went to retrieve his hammer. The Captain noticed this and put its three-fingered hands behind its head, showing its full surrender.

"Eragon!" Roran suddenly called out. "Come here!"

Before investigating what Roran had found, Eragon asked Saphira to watch the Captain. It took some convincing for her not to mangle the soldier for wounding Roran, but he eventually did, albeit begrudgingly. He then strolled to his cousin to see what he had found.

"What is it?" Eragon asked as he arrived. Roran did not respond, instead, he motioned with his hammer. What he motioned to, was another soldier. This one simply tan colored like the ground troops. It appeared to be crouched and hiding, attempting to save itself from the fury the trio had enacted on its companions.

"Uhh…hi there?" It said wearily.

"What should we do with it?" Roran asked, preparing his hammer to offer a death strike.

Eragon considered killing the soldier then and there, but another thought graced his mind. "Bring it over to the Captain. I know what we're going to do with both of them."

Roran complied as he led it to it's only remaining comrade, "Right beside him. Do what he's doing or I'm going to crush your skull."

The soldier got Roran's meaning and quickly laid down and repeated what the Captain was doing.

Eragon observed their two new captives. They weren't their original targets. In fact, they were far from what their targets were. But, they were something far more important. They were a new threat. Eragon knew that this platoon wasn't the only group of these forces in Alagaësia. The leader had uttered something about a "Separatist Army."

The trio were going to have interrogate their new hostages. What was this Separaist Army? What were they doing at Helgrind? Where were the Ra'zac? And, most importantly, what were these things?

* * *

 **Wow...it's been a _long-ass_ time since I last updated this...**

 **I am so, so sorry, guys. Some personal issues got in the way. But, thanks for being patient! And don't worry! This isn't my last update for the next few months! I've got two more chapters lined up, they just need some quick edits first(and some additional writing in the case of the second one).**

 **But, the next two are gonna be interesting. Especially the latter. (Spoiler alert, but Grievous is finally coming into play! ^^)**

 **So, yeah. Hopefully I can start regularly updating this thing, cause I'm excited to tell this story. And, if I can't start updating regularly...I guess Eragon's gonna have to use his new blaster on me and make me do it. (Hope he figures out how to swap it from kill to stun before then)**

 **See ya folks next time! (Which should be pretty soon actually)**


	5. Council of Worms

The halls of the black palace echoed as the metal footsteps of the cyborg general and his droid bodyguards strolled through them quickly.

If there was one thing that Grievous loved about this utterly pointless trip, it was the fear that surrounded every living thing he encountered. These humans he was around, they weren't like the ones he was used to.

Sure, the humans loyal to both the Republic and the Separatists were fearful of him, but, they at least knew he was simply a being in a metal shell, or, at the very least thought he was some sort of super intelligent droid. These primitive, superstitious humans must've thought that Grievous was some sort of monster. A fiendish demon brought forth from the deepest pits of Hell (or, whatever was Hell's equivalent to these minds), to torture them night and day.

Well, they certainly got one thing right if they thought of him like that.

Of course, there were a select few who weren't fearful of him, mainly out of arrogance. This was most true for Galbatorix, the mad, prideful king of the land. Grievous had previously thought that Nute Gunray was the most pompous individual he would ever encounter. After spending ten minutes in the presence of the King, not only did he want to do nothing more than ignite one of his lightsabers and run Galbatorix through, but he also had to fight the urge to find Nute Gunray and personally apologize for his mental and verbal accusations of the Neimoidian. Galbatorix was that self-obsessed.

Aside from him, the only other ones who did not fear him were a few of the nobles and magicians whom inhabited Galbatorix's inner court back in his capital. It both irritated and amused him when they claimed that each one of them could control Grievous and the droids at any given moment, due to their "incredibly atoned powers in some ancient language."

In fact, he had personally killed three of them already for the remarks, and wouldn't hesitate to kill more should they make the same claim. Grievous wasn't worried about any punishment dished out from Galbatorix or Dooku. Neither one of them cared about a few dead magicians anyways.

Hell, with his current mood, he was tempted to kill one of the King's pet spellcasters or soldiers simply for the sheer pleasure of doing so. He was extremely agitated right now, and he would prefer to kill something that didn't affect Separatist forces directly...not that he would miss a battle droid or two if he did.

The reason for the Droid General's current status was for one soul reason: the governor of the city, one Marcus Tábor, had summoned the General to a meeting...for the third time in two days.

When the Separatists had arrived earlier in the week, Galbatorix, upon recovering from the shock of Grievous and the droids, had given the General a briefing...or, at least, what passed as a briefing for such a primitive society. After which, the King had sent Grievous across the country, to fortify the cities of the area with legions of Separatist troops.

So far, the northern half of the nation had been completely fortified. The cities of Narda and Kuasta had troop transport ships that nearly overshadowed the cities themselves due to their sizes, Ceunon had an entire encampment built on its southern side, and Teirm had two of the giant transports acting as massive barges off the city's coast. And now, Grievous had come to fortify Dras-Leona.

It was the second largest town in Galbatorix's empire, and it was the beginning of the southern cities. However, Grievous, who had found _all_ of the Alagaësian settlements to be small and disgusting places, had come to view Dras-Leona as the most repugnant of them all. Its streets and buildings were filthy, barring the immense black cathedral that towered over everything else. Even the palace that Tábor lived in(and the building in which Grievous had made his personal quarters for his duration in Dras-Leona) was shameful for a man of his position, even in such a primitive society. Galbatorix, despite his flaws, at least had quite the magnificent castle.

Normally, the fortifying of a city as small as this would take no more than a single day. Even mere hours if the droids were quick enough. Hell, Dras-Leona was technically already ready for any attack or siege that came to it. However, Grievous had decided to stay in it for a bit longer than needed. His reasoning? The small crystal that was gripped firmly in his right fist, and the thousands of similar crystals that according to the locals, grew in abundance at the rock spires southeast of the city.

Unfortunately, his extended stay resulted in more time than he needed with Dras-Leona's noble council, at which, Tábor sat at the head of. Since the Separatists' arrival in the city, the worm of a man and his equally pitiful noble advisors had held meetings. Meetings that Tábor claimed were in the "best interest of the city and her inhabitants", but Grievous knew were really just sessions of each noble expressing fear of the Separatists, and forming impossible plans to usurp each other and the General.

Tábor had personally invited Grievous to the last two meetings, to which the General had not-so politely declined. This time, however, he was extremely annoyed with Tábor for his continued invites and bothersome intrusions into the General's time. He wanted to break something or someone.

As Grievous neared the large doors that Tábor had told him to be the council room, he pondered whom he should punish for this irritation. Tábor, although the primary cause of his annoyance, was off limits, as Galbatorix had instructed him to leave any and all city leaders unharmed. No, Tábor would simply have to be taught a lesson another way. And, as an additional bonus, he would get to watch worm-like noblemen squirm with fear.

As he approached the doors, he heard voices shouting at each other in incomprehensible dialogues. As he and his bodyguards' feet scrapped and slammed against the stone floor, the voices became increasingly quieted, until eventually silencing completely. Not a second after they fell silent, Grievous pushed open the doors aggressively.

The council room was large, and as was the round table that the nobles sat at. Twelve chairs slotted the space around the table, and twelve nobles, Tábor being one of them, occupied them. Two human guards armed with spears and wearing the reddish colors of Galbatorix's troops lined the entrance.

As the cyborg General entered the council room, all heads turned to him. The guards nearly jumped as Grievous and his droid guardians strolled in. The General looked over both of them, and growled slightly under his mask. The guards were petrified, and were barely able to move from the sight of what they probably thought were five demons. The General barked one single phrase to both of the fearful humans as he observed them; "Leave."

The two made haste as they nearly sprinted out of the council room, leaving their spears behind and dashing for the safety of any room they could find. After they were gone, Grievous ordered his guards to different position around the room. Two assumed the position of the human guards before them, whilst the other two stood at opposite ends of the table, beside Tábor and another noble respectively.

All was quiet for minutes as Grievous made a slow circling of the table, gazing upon each noble as he did. Some had hints of disgust in their eyes. Others had wonder and awe. Others, simply had curiosity in theirs. However, each human sitting at the table had one thing in common: each had fear overwhelming the other emotions. Fear of what exactly Grievous was, and fear of what exactly he could do…

After minutes of silence, Grievous growled audibly, "Well? Are none of you going to speak? I've finally decided to attend one of your little get-togethers. So, please, enlighten me as to why you have invited me here…"

It took a few seconds for any of them to respond, as they casted nervous glances to their cohorts. It was Tábor who eventually broke the ice and spoke to the General.

"General Grievous…why…it is an honor to finally have you attend a session of Dras-Leona's council."

"Yes, I am utterly flattered." Grievous responded in a bitterly sarcastic tone, "Now, would you kindly get to the point?"

On one end of the table, two of the nobles began to whisper to each other. Grievous could barely hear them, but he picked up that one was confirming that Grievous was in fact, the being that stood before them, and not a human like all the rest of Galbatorix's generals had been.

"Yes, well…" Tábor rolled up some parchment that had been placed in front of him prior to Grievous' entrance, "…firstly, my fellow nobles and I want to sincerely thank you for your efforts in fortifying Dras-Leona for a pending Varden attack. As well as the surprising turn of crime within our walls."

A noble with a beard and long, brown hair who was dressed in long, green robes spoke next, "Yes. Since your patrols replaced our own, we've apprehended nearly forty criminals and executed them…that's more than in an average year for us!"

Tábor continued, "Which is why our entire council wishes to reward you, General, for-"

"Keep whatever reward you planned on giving me. I have no interest in anything coming from _this city_." Grievous quickly interrupted Tábor. The suddenness and content of his response caused some looks of shock from the council members.

Tábor himself seemed to stutter at it, "Uh…uh…well, alright then…well, that brings us to something else then. Something more pressing…"

"What is it, then?"

"Earlier today, eyewitnesses claimed to have spotted a platoon of soldiers marching towards the peaks of Helgrind. The descriptions they gave my guards suggest that they were your droids, and not our city's soldiers."

"And what of it?" Grievous asked, becoming increasingly annoyed.

A clean-shaven, long-haired man in orange robes spoke next, "Well, Helgrind is of significant religious importance to a considerable amount of our city's population. And although the general public is largely unaware, the High Priest of Helgrind has contacted us, and has expressed deep concern over-"

"You tell that priest that he'd better forget about my troops approaching those _rocks_. I have my own reasons for exploring the site, and my troops had best be left undisturbed while they do so."

The noble in orange was about to speak out again, before Tábor stopped him, "Peace, Baron Gamarí. Don't do anything you'd regret."

Gamarí silenced himself, but wore a scowl afterwards as Tábor addressed Grievous again, "General, I believe it would be in the best interest of us all if you would just explain to us why you're exploring the Peaks. Many of those who follow the Church's rites are concerned for both our lords and their inner sanctum."

"What my soldiers are doing is none of your business", Grievous replied, turning to prowl around the table with an almost threatening posture. His dark cape flowed softly behind him, the grey exterior concealing his skeletal, droid-like body as he moved. His yellow eyes roamed over the council gathered before him, the gaze betraying his quickly fraying patience and his disdain for the beings gathered in the room.

As the General slowly strolled around the table, he flashed the inner portion of his cape to the council members, briefly showing off two of the silver hilts that signified the presence of his lightsabers. The former Jedi weapons shined brightly against the room's candle flames, likely catching the eyes of more than a couple of the Barons and Lords. Were he on any planet connected to the rest of the galaxy, that, coupled with the slow, metallic clicks of his talons scraping across the stone floor would be enough to send a single clear message to anyone: drop the subject, or there would be _severe_ consequences. Unfortunately for the council members, none of them knew what the lightsabers actually were, and only some seemed to get the memo.

Baron Gamarí was one of the ones who didn't, apparently, as Grievous was directly behind him when he gave the council a peak at the hilts. The Baron turned to face the General and, in an attempt to get more information, grabbed the long, black and red cloak that hung from the cyborg's shoulders. "General Grievous, I believe I speak for the rest of us when I-"

The small Baron would unfortunately never utter another word again. As Gamarí grabbed his cape, Grievous' annoyance and anger reached its peak, and caused him to snap. With one fast motion, Grievous turned and dug his six claws into the back of Gamarí's head. Less than a second later, the Baron's face had been slammed down onto the stone table. An audible thump and the sound of bones breaking followed.

All fell silent, and looks of shock were exchanged throughout the rest of the council. Gamarí simply laid motionless, and after a small pool of blood began to form around his head, the Baron's death had been all but confirmed.

The two MagnaGuards standing around the table now clenched their staffs tightly in both hands. They had yet to activate them, but they were at the ready should the General call them to action. Many of the remaining nobles nervously glanced between both Grievous and his equally terrifying bodyguards.

Grievous looked at each and every one of them. The sudden execution of Gamarí had not been planned, but it had felt good. Almost as if part of the annoyance had simply vanished alongside the Baron's life. He clenched his fists a few times, the claws of his left one stained crimson slightly from where they had penetrated Gamarí's skull as he had grabbed him. After a few more seconds, he motioned to his guards, who stood down at the signal.

"Consider that your warning…" Grievous growled as he addressed the council, Tábor in particular, "…next time one of you insists past my tolerance level, I will kill two of you…"

Tábor, still utterly mortified by the death of one of his lords, simply stuttered out, "Y-Yes, General…"

"Fantastic." Using his cloak, Grievous began to wipe the Baron's blood off his claw-tips, "Now, is there any reason why I was summoned here?"

A sense of uneasiness had obviously taken root in the remaining eleven nobles, as Tábor nervously said, "No, General…I'm afraid there's nothing left after those issues…we simply want to make the best of your stay here with us…"

"If you wish to make my stay more pleasant for both of us, then I suggest you never invite me to one of these again, unless there's an attack directly on the city. I will come to you if I wish to deal with you."

"Yes, General…"

A low beeping noise began to sound from inside of Grievous' cloak. The noise startled a specific Lord who the General happened to be directly behind at the moment. Another one on the other end of the table questioned, "What is that…sound?"

Grievous growled, "Nothing that concerns you. Unfortunately, however, it does concern me. I must take my leave, gentlemen."

The General signaled his MangaGuards and headed for the exit, to which they followed him. His metal talons once again clinking against the stones of the floor, Grievous hastily exited the council room, with all four of his guards following close behind, and the last two shutting the door behind them.

Tábor and the other ten nobles were left to wallow in the new, dark atmosphere the General had just created. Slowly, each of them turned towards the remains of Baron Gamarí, who now lay as a chilling reminder that Galbatorix's newest ally was not one to trifle with.

* * *

As soon as Grievous was far from the council room, he reached into his cloak and pulled out the small hologram communicator that had been beeping for nearly a minute now. He clicked the button, and the blue image of a tactical droid appeared. "What is it?"

"General. King Galbatorix has contacted us."

Grievous groaned audibly, "What does that imbecile want now?"

"He contacted to inform us that his second-in-command, a person by the name of Murtagh is in his way to Dras-Leona. This Murtagh is coming to retrieve the prisoner that accompanied the Ra'zac yesterday and transport her back to Urû'baen."

"So what? Simply await his arrival and exchange her, and get it over with quickly."

"The King requested that you be present at the transference, General."

Grievous let out another loud growl. His annoyance had returned with a vengeance. "Very well! When should we expect his arrival?"

Although Grievous could not be certain, the droid seemed have a hint of smugness in its voice, "Within the hour, General.."

"Fantastic." Grievous said sarcastically, before addressing the droid bluntly, "Prepare an area in the courtyard of Tábor's castle for the transference. I shall greet Galbatorix's bastard servant at the entrance."

"Yes, General. It will be done."

"Good." Was the General's last reply as the droid ended the transmission. Returning the communicator to his cloak, the General beckoned to his bodyguards to continue to follow.

Grievous was eager to get this deal over with, simply so he could return to his quarters in peace.

* * *

 **I want to apologize for the lengthy wait on this one. Lack of motivation as well as some personal business has kept me from writing for a while.**

 **I also want to thank my beta reader, yodapopper, for assisting with the finishing of this chapter, and for helping me to flesh out the story for this and all later chapters. Big props to you, man.**


	6. The Droid General

Murtagh hated Dras-Leona.

The dark, depressing city that made up Alagaësia's largest population center, aside from the Empire's capital itself, stood out like a monument to everything wrong with the world. Its people were either starving to death, basking away in whatever glory Galbatorix's power had given them, or partaking in the bizarre, disgusting rituals of the Priests of Helgrind. Or any combination of these actions.

The buildings were worn out and broken down. The houses of the common folk were stacked at random, unlike the fantastic formations of the ones in Teirm. The massive, black cathedral at the city's center, although magnificent to look at, was tainted in blood and misery once one dug deeper into its history and usage. And, to top it off, one could smell the city's putrid pestilence from a few miles outside of the city's gates.

All in all, one would likely never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy in Alagaësia. So, in other words, Murtagh _hated_ Dras-Leona.

The Dark Rider hated many of the things he was forced to do by his oaths to the bastard, King Galbatorix. However, being the King's personal dog and playing "fetch the hostage" ranked amongst the least annoying things he had to do for him. Why? Because it allowed him to take a brief respite from Galbatorix's madness, and also allowed him to have some vital privacy with his newly bonded dragon, Thorn.

Although Murtagh did not wish for the dragon to have hatched for him, and although the mental and physical tortures both had endured from Galbatorix since then were almost insufferable, there was one good thing had come from his capture and forced allegiance to Galbatorix. It was the fact that he had found his first true friend in nearly a decade, barring _maybe_ the brief time that Eragon and Saphira had not been his mortal enemies.

Murtagh's thoughts wandered as he looked over the black form of Dras-Leona that slowly approached the dragon and Rider. Below him, Thorn shifted slightly as his Rider's thoughts strayed into his mind. The red dragon's deep, but youthful voice immediately sounded in Murtagh's head, _I highly doubt that he can enter our minds from this far away. We can probably speak freely about him now._

Murtagh let out an audible grunt in response, _It doesn't matter. He'd find out what we said eventually._

Thorn hummed lowly, _Still, it would help to clear our heads for now._

 _It would be a temporary solution, and one with consequences that would not nearly be worth it._

 _Much like your decision to spare your brother and his little sapphire bitch?_ The dragon let out a noise akin to chuckling.

Murtagh scowled. When he had decided to leave Eragon and Saphira at the Burning Plains _instead of_ delivering them to Galbatorix, Thorn had been utterly confused by the act. The Dark Rider and his dragon had been tortured mercilessly by the King for Murtagh's action, and since then, Thorn had held a bit of a grudge on his Rider for it. He would bring it up every so often to either mock or ridicule Murtagh, and it was starting to get annoying. _Very_ annoying.

 _That was a simple gesture from one former friend to another. I promise you, the next time we face them, we will show them no mercy._

 _Bah._ The dragon swiveled his head in front of him, as Murtagh continued to stare at the scenery. Many miles to their left, the dark peaks of the monstrous spires of the mountainous Helgrind rose from the earth. Their twisted forms looked as if the ground had been penetrated by the spears of an evil giant. Inside them, the Ra'zac were likely mingling amongst themselves, gnawing on the bones of their latest meals or simply doing whatever the monstrosities did when they were not hunting Dragon Riders and Varden agents for the King.

Dras-Leona, Helgrind, and the few buildings outside of the city walls were nothing new to Murtagh. He had seen them all many times in his travels, both before and during his service to Galbatorix. What was new, however, was the massive form that loomed over Dras-Leona, dwarfing even the massive cathedral in its height. Four large wings extended to either side of the tan behemoth. The shadow casted by it engulfed half of the city, and Murtagh was sure most of the civilians within were probably hidden away in their homes with fear.

Galbatorix had informed them that apparently, it was a type of ship utilized by the King's new ally, a mysterious count by the name of Dooku. Although Murtagh was certain that this was not a conventional ship, as all the ships he knew of sailed on water, whereas this one seemingly sailed on thin air. Inside of it were likely hundreds of the iron-like soldiers known as battle droids.

As Thorn neared Dras-Leona, the ship's actual size became even more apparent. It was _four times_ larger than Marcus Tábor's pathetic palace, and surely looked much more well-kept than the Lord's shamble of a home. At the gates, in place of the usual Imperial guards, sat three or four battle droids, and a medium-sized stationary machine, which Murtagh assumed was some sort of ballista-like turret.

In the streets, barely any civilians were about, and the few that where were either hermits or running stalls in the markets. What was inhabiting the streets were more of the tan battle droids. Patrolling the streets or guarding corners, usually in groups of two or more. It was amazing how fast the droids could assemble together, as it seemed that the droids had largely replaced the human guards in Dras-Leona, unlike Urû'baen, which still had many human guards at their positions and posts. Murtagh was not certain what exactly these droids were, but he knew for certain that they had to be magical in some degree. He had attempted to probe one's mind once, only to find it completely impossible. Either it had some seriously advanced barriers on its mind, or it did not have a detectable mind at all.

Passing over the streets, the dragon angled to the right as he aimed for the courtyard of Tábor's castle. Their gracious host had called for them to land there for the exchange. Only, their host was not Tábor, as it usually was whenever they came to Dras-Leona. No, their host today was someone new, one General Grievous, whom Galbatorix had acknowledged by a different name: General of the Droids.

Murtagh and Thorn had yet to meet Grievous, as apparently, the General's brief visit to Urû'baen and meeting with the King had lasted mere hours. However, Galbatorix had given him some information about the man or droid before the two had left. He was the leader of the Droid Army, and commander of every soldier of theirs, second only to Count Dooku himself(or at least, both he and Galbatorix had assumed that). The King had also warned Murtagh not to upset the General too much, as it could reap dire consequences. Not that Murtagh was worried at all. He had magic, Zar'roc and Thorn to assist him should Grievous provide any trouble. Not to mention a few...additional surprises...

Thorn landed in the courtyard with an audible _thump_. The first human guards Murtagh had seen since entering the city tensed as the scarlet dragon retracted his wings to his body. They gripped their halberds tightly as they regained their composure. It seemed Tábor had taken to still using Imperial soldiers to guard his personal home, as opposed to the droids.

Murtagh slowly dismounted Thorn and hopped onto the ground. Aside from the guards, no one else was residing in the courtyard. There was no sign of General Grievous anywhere. Murtagh mentally growled in irritation, _He's late._

Thorn took this opportunity to say what sounded like a joke to Murtagh, but very well could have been simple gloating on the dragon's part; _Perhaps he saw my form approaching and decided not to confront such a magnificent beast as I._

 _He leads creatures that may very well be demons, Thorn. I don't think he's afraid of either one of us._

 _Then he is a fool, for any man in their right mind should fear a dragon._ Thorn held his head high in the air. Murtagh could feel the dragon's pride and vanity surge into his own being. If there was one downside to being bonded to him, it was Thorn's almost excessive pride in himself at times.

As the two made this exchange, loud, metal-sounding footsteps began to sound from behind the door in front of them. The two looked to the way of the door as the sounds drew closer and closer. Seconds later, the iron and wooden doors were forced open. Out of it stepped four droids, with appearances that were far more demonic in nature than their tan colored colleagues. Each had steel colored bodies that appeared almost skeletal in nature, and each carried metal staffs that had large, club-like appendages at each end. Light grey cloaks covered the arms that did not carry the staffs, and the droids had glowing, red eyes adorning their terror-inducing faces.

Although these droids were certainly more ominous and menacing than the ones that Murtagh had witnessed already, he and Thorn's eyes were more focused on the being that followed them. It was tan colored, like the normal droids, and certainly had the iron-like hide as them. A large, black cloak covered most of its hunched over body, although Murtagh could still see the black talons that sprouted from its feet. However, this...creature had one feature that the other droids lacked, one that made Murtagh question what it truly was.

It was the eyes. Small, yellow, and akin to those of a lizard, the eyes gave off an eerie organic feel to the iron creature. They seemed to bore deep into anything they stared at, and Murtagh felt a twinge of fear as it gazed upon him. Even Thorn lowered his head slightly to peer at the demon. Murtagh could feel his mount's sense of pride waver ever so slightly.

As the group entered the courtyard, the four droids stopped and held their ground, slamming their staffs onto the stone walkway. The cloaked creature continued to approach, however, and did so until it stood at a few yards from Murtagh and Thorn. It then raised from its hunchback, rising to a height that rivaled that of a Kull warrior. As it rose, it let out a groan of disgust that almost grated Murtagh's ears, which once again caused the Rider to question what exactly this _thing_ was.

The creature looked over Thorn briefly, before turning to Murtagh. It was silent for a second, before it narrowed its eyes, and spoke in the most inhuman voice the Dark Rider had heard in his life, "You must be Galbatorix's envoy..."

 _This can't be him...can it?_ Murtagh secretly hoped this was just some elite soldier of the droids, but he had the suspicion of who this creature really was. He nearly bit his tongue as he responded, "General...Grievous, I presume?"

"In the flesh." Grievous made a noise akin to a growl. The General's voice was coupled with raspy breathing.

Murtagh took a moment to respond, still taking in the monster that was locking gazes with him. Grievous narrowed his eyes as the Rider took a bit too long to respond, grunting out, "I believe I have someone your King wants…let's get this over with, shall we? I don't have all day…"

"Yes, sorry…please take me to her…" Murtagh snapped out of his trance as Grievous' somewhat hostile words hit his ears. The General did not utter another word as he began his way to the door on the other side of the courtyard, his bodyguards following close behind.

Turning to Thorn, Murtagh quickly said to him, _Stay here. I'll be back momentarily._

 _Yes. Just don't take all day, alright?_ The dragon said as he stretched and laid down.

 _No promises._ With that, Murtagh turned and followed Grievous into the small fortress that connected to Tábor's palace.

* * *

The short walk had been utterly silent so far. Neither Murtagh nor Grievous had spoken a word since the courtyard. In fact, Murtagh was somewhat uneasy because of this fact, as the General's iron talons and his bodyguards' steel feet filled both his ears and his mind with dread. The way they quickly scurried down the hallways to wherever their destination was reminded him of wild beasts about to pounce on wounded animals to kill them. The creatures moved so fast; the Dark Rider nearly had to jog to keep up with their pace.

As the group continued onwards, Murtagh glanced over the Droid General, attempting to spot anything else of intrigue of Grievous' person. The General had returned to walking with a humped back, now standing only slightly taller than the Rider. The dark cloak that covered nearly everything aside from his head was pulled down to cover his hunched form. It and the General's raspy breathing certainly did give off the impression that Grievous was a sickly, broken creature.

To Murtagh's surprise, he could sense some sort of a mind within Grievous. This made him even more unique amongst the droids, as even the General's own bodyguards shared the normal battle droids' lack of a noticeable consciousness. He hadn't dared to probe it though, as unlike the races of Alagaësia, Murtagh could feel something downright alien about Grievous. Whatever he was, it would certainly be a chore to break into his mind. The Dark Rider would simply let Galbatorix himself venture into the General's mind should Grievous prove to be more of a liability than an asset.

The group made their way down the hallways and stairways of the fortress, stopping for no man or droid that they came across, eventually making it to the building's central chamber, which had been converted into some sort of war room for the droids. Battle droids scurried along the entire room. Some were the standard tan coloring that Murtagh had become accustomed to, whereas others had red markings on certain sections of their bodies. And others, similar to the reddish ones, had golden markings on their heads and shoulders.

Strange sources of light adorned almost every inch of the room. Tablets made of light and with _moving_ runes and portraits were held in the hands of battle droids in a small size, or upon the walls in much larger ones. The chamber was filled with noise and chatter from the squeakily-voiced droids.

At the center of it all stood five figures. Murtagh immediately recognized the two shriveled and hunched beings cloaked in black garments as the Ra'zac. The pair of Rider hunters appeared visibly uncomfortable, and that was saying something, as it was usually hard to read the body language of the monstrosities. Murtagh guessed that the lights of the droids' tablets were affecting the two in some form.

In front of them, stood a droid. Humanoid like the rest, but appearing in another new form to Murtagh, this particular droid seemed to act as a commander of sorts, as normal battle droids would occasionally flock to it and hand it one of the tablets, to which the droid would simply give them an order and they would leave. This one too had an expressionless face, and one that seemed to be frozen in a look of disinterest. Its eyes glowed green, and it stood stoic in a position of authority...one that Murtagh had seen many other men of power stand in on several different occasions.

Finally, there were the two humans. One was a man with bandages around his eyes. He was short, bald, and looked as if he had been nearly starved to death. His raspy breathing almost rivaled Grievous in its intensity. Murtagh almost felt a sense of pity, knowing all too well that the near-skeleton was a still living captive of the Ra'zac. The other human was a young woman. Although she also appeared to be starved, she looked to be much healthier than the other, and still had her eyes within her skull, which darted from each and every battle droid with fear.

As the group entered the room, much of the commotion stopped. All turned to face them, with mixed reactions from the Ra'zac and the human captives. The woman's mouth hung agape as she observed Grievous. The Ra'zac chittered in surprise at the sight of the General, with the shorter one even growling a little bit. The blind man simply noticed the sudden silence, and began asking questions.

"They've quieted down! Katrina! What's going on? I heard doors opening, so who just entered the room?"

The commanding droid approached Grievous and slowly bowed, speaking in a monotone voice as it greeted the Droid General, "General."

"Commander..." Grievous began as he gestured at the Ra'zac with his hand, "...what are these _things_ doing here?"

The shorter Ra'zac's growl rose in intensity as it made a step towards Grievous, only to be stopped by its taller partner. The droid continued as it raised itself up, "They claim that the King would want them to oversee the transference of the prisoner to his Rider, as they were the ones to capture her."

"We are the onesssss who captured the girl alive. King Galbatorix would want his bessssst hunters to oversee the exchange of sssssuch a valuable prisoner." The taller Ra'zac's voice was as grating as it was disturbing. Although it was certainly far calmer than its brethren, Murtagh could still hear the utter malice in its voice.

Grievous simply uttered an animalistic growl as he responded, "Bah. Then do not interfere."

The Ra'zac nodded in acknowledgement and returned to its silence. Grievous then turned to Murtagh and begrudgingly addressed him, "Retrieve your prisoner then, so I can return to more important matters..."

Ignoring the comment of Grievous, Murtagh approached the young woman, who backed away in fear. Not wanting to cause a massive scene he simply extended his arm and waved her to come over, calmly saying, "Let's go, milady. The King is expecting an audience with you tonight, and he _hates_ to wait too long for invited guests."

The woman was silent and motionless for many moments, simply glancing between Murtagh and Grievous. Murtagh was not sure if she was still shocked, or if she was simply unsure of what to do, but, he cared little for whichever one it actually was. He was simply ready to leave.

Another moment of hesitation on the woman's part caused the shorter Ra'zac to growl and shove her towards Murtagh. The woman stumbled and gasped at the sudden force used against her, but she quickly recovered as she stood back up.

Turning to Murtagh, she uttered a rather fearful, "Very well." She then turned to the skeletal man, and spoke softly to him, "Father, let's go. At the very least we'll be rid of these _beasts_ in the King's presence…"

The two prisoners began to trudge past Murtagh for the doorway. However, he quickly threw his arm in front of them to halt them, before he spoke, "I'm afraid Galbatorix is only interested in your company, milady…he has no interest in your father's, so he must remain here."

The woman's expression turned from one of fear to one of shock as the Dark Rider's words set in. Looking between her father and Murtagh, she began to stutter as she begged for her father's passage to Urû'baen.

"P-Please, sir. My father has been beaten, tortured and starved! He cannot survive for another week here, let alone by himself! Please! He must go with me!"

"I am sorry, but if the King has no use for him, then he will have no interest in whether or not he lives or dies. Your father will have to stay in Dras-Leona."

The girl's sense of fear diminished again, this time replaced by a hint of anger. She took a short breath, before taking a step back and speaking, "Then I will stay here too."

Murtagh's frown deepened at her defiance. Her devotion to her father and his well-being was admirable, but it was utterly hopeless. She would go to Urû'baen, and the man would stay here. It was that, or they would both die together in this room, and as much as Murtagh wanted to leave the city already, he did not want the two to meet their ends here, as they had already suffered enough.

"Milady…that is not an option. You must-"

"If my father is to be left here and taken for granted in such a weak state, then Galbatorix can-"

" **ENOUGH!"**

Murtagh did not expect the loud, grating snarl to escape from Grievous as the General strolled past him to the prisoner, nor did he expect his metal hand to briefly grasp his shoulder and to push him aside with little effort. Once these events did happen, however, he and any common fool observing the situation could predict the look of terror that would inhabit the woman's face as the General got close to it.

"Your defiance is meaningless, girl! All it does is prolong the inevitable! You are going to your King tonight, and your father is remaining here with us, whether or not his health is up to par!"

"I...but-" The woman's skin went pale as the iron demon mere inches from her face let out a loud roar of anger. Grievous reared back, and dug one of his claws into his cloak, bringing out a small, silver cylinder as it resurfaced. A mere second later and with a simple pulse from his fingers, the cylinder let out a screech and ignited a magnificent blue light.

Both of the Ra'zac let out frightened hisses as the light activated, and each backed away into the shadows. Many of the droids backed away in fear too. Unfortunately for one of them, however, he was too late to back away, as Grievous swung the light at it with a speed that not even an elf could avoid.

One loud hiss later, and the battle droid collapsed in half. A singed, burning wound was carved through its body, with smoke still radiating from it.

Murtagh could only watch in both shock and awe as Grievous then descended upon the skeletal man, grabbing him by the head and holding him in place. As the man's pleas and screams filled the room, Grievous brought the light-sword to the man's neck, stopping only centimeters away.

"You will go with the Rider and leave your father here, or, you will watch me carve him into pieces, and _then_ go to Galbatorix!"

The woman, who gazed in horror as the General held her father close to the light-sword, jumped forward in an attempt to free her father. Unfortunately, she was stopped by Grievous' bodyguards, who flipped their staffs around into a defensive position and flicked their wrists, igniting their staffs in an equally horrible noise to the light-blade's activation. She recoiled and backed away as the guards, now with staffs that emitted streams of violet lightning, stepped between her and Grievous.

With her now subdued behind his bodyguards, Grievous growled once again as he addressed her calmly, but no less angry than before, "Make your choice, girl, before I make it for you…"

The girl hesitated for only a moment more, before she sighed and conceded to the General's ultimatum. Quietly, she made her way towards Murtagh, glancing at Grievous the entire time. The General's yellow eyes showed nothing but fury in them as they followed her to Murtagh. The bodyguards watched her as well, with their gazes being even more unsettling than their master's.

Once the woman had arrived at Murtagh's side, Grievous released the skeletal man from his clutches. The man collapsed to the ground with an audible grunt, and reached for his own throat, breathing heavily.

Grievous called off his bodyguards, then turned to a few of the normal battle droids, "sheathing" the light-blade and indicating the man as he spoke once more, "Find a cell, and put him in it."

The lead droid nodded and squeaked out, "Roger roger."

Two of the droids grabbed the man by his arms, and began to drag him out of the chambers, with the third following close behind as a guard. The man, either still shaken from Grievous handling him or simply acknowledging his fate, made no protests as they led him out. Once they had left, Grievous addressed Murtagh, "I believe our business here has concluded, Rider. Give your King my regards."

"…right…" Murtagh turned to the woman, and prompted her along with little resistance. As they neared the door, Murtagh stopped and turned back to Grievous briefly, "Oh, uh, General?"

Grievous growled, the sound hostile enough to almost make it tangible; "What?"

"King Galbatorix wishes to know what your future schedule for the city fortifications are. He's utterly impressed with your work on the northern cities, I must say."

Grievous turned away from Murtagh, hunching over the command table as he responded coldly, "I will be remaining in Dras-Leona for one more day. I depart for Belatona tomorrow evening, and for Feinster in two days time."

Murtagh made a mental note for Galbatorix, and simply walked out with an uttered "thank you", the woman in tow.

As the two began their short journey to the courtyard, Murtagh contacted Thorn mentally, _Thorn? The trade is done. I have the girl._

 _Oh, a girl, eh? I hope she isn't one to_ _waver_ _at the sight of me._

 _Considering she's been with the Ra'zac_ _for weeks, and just watched Grievous threaten her father's-_

 _Okay, okay, I get it._ Thorn grumbled out, his pride wavering slightly.

Murtagh chuckled lowly, _Just be ready for mount take-off. I'll be there momentarily…_

* * *

"General Grievousssss."

Grievous growled internally as the ear-bleeding voice of one of the Ra'zac spoke from behind him. He had hoped the creatures would simply retreat to another part of the castle after they had nearly run away in fear from his rage with the lightsaber , but it appeared that they were still eager to annoy him for another purpose. Slowly, he turned to face the two cloaked monstrosities, who had returned from the darkness now that his lightsaber was sheathed.

" _What_ … _is it_?"

The taller Ra'zac, who had spoken first, backed up a step as the General rose to full height, towering over it. The being's black, lidless eyes were unexpressive, but its nervous wheezing gave off the fear it was experiencing in Grievous' presence.

The shorter Ra'zac, did not seem to share this fear at the moment however, as it growled at Grievous as it brashly spoke, "Why do you have these moronic creaturessss so carelessssly digging around our-"

The taller Ra'zac stopped its companion mid-sentence, before calmly reiterating what it had been trying to say, "We are simply curioussssss, General, as to why you have sssssent droidsssss to our home. We do not feel comfortable with your troopsssss invading our spires uninvited."

 _When will the residents of this godforsaken town learn to keep their mouths shut and their eyes averted?!_ Grievous crossed his arms as he repeated the words that he had told Tábor's council not an hour ago, "What my troops do at your 'estate' is none of your business. So, if you wish to ever return to it, I suggest you-"

"General."

Grievous groaned at another interruption, this time coming from T-502, the tactical droid who inhabited the room, and whom Grievous would place in charge of Dras-Leona once he had departed the city. The droid hurried over to the General, holding a datapad in its clutches.

"General. We have a problem."

"Commander…this had better be important. What is it?"

"General, four battle droids have just arrived at the southern gate. Their service numbers mark them as members of the battalion sent to the mountainous spires southeast of the city." T-502 said as it tapped on the datapad.

His irritation fading, and his sense of suspicion growing, Grievous questioned further, "Only four? Where is the tank, and the other thirty battle droids?"

"The AAT's signature is still transmitting from underneath the spires. However, I have hailed it three times, and am still receiving no word from the commander or any other unit. The droids who returned were carrying no blasters, nearly in full sprint and were screaming and claiming that they were attacked."

"…I'm sorry, I must have misheard, did you say 'attacked?'"

"Yes, General."

Grievous took a step towards the tactical droid, "Attacked by _what_ exactly?"

"According to the ramblings of one of the droids, they were attacked by a large, blue lizard."

Behind him, one of the Ra'zac's hissed fiercely as T-502 mentioned "large, blue lizard." It spoke with malice as it uttered out, "The Rider! He isssss here!"

When Galbatorix had briefed him on the Varden, the enemy that he had been assigned to eradicate, the King had informed Grievous of all the rebel group's prominent members. Galbatorix had stated that although he was not the commander of all the Varden's forces, a Dragon Rider by the name of Eragon was both the Varden's greatest warrior, and the morale anchor of its troops. Eragon rode a sapphire colored dragon dubbed Saphira, and the two were renowned for their combative prowess in the Varden and amongst the Empire's human soldiers. Grievous highly doubted that they would impress him upon the field of battle.

Nevertheless, capturing or killing the Varden's hero this early into the Separatist's campaign would turn this already simple conquest into a bloodbath, and Grievous was always one to love a good slaughter. Besides, an easy victory such as this could easily make up for the dreadfully boring and irritating day he had been having so far.

"Commander," Grievous said to T-502, "are the burrowing charges I gave the battalion still active?"

"Yes, General. However, only a portion of them have been placed and armed along the walls of the spires' eastern edge. The rest are inactive."

"Can they be remotely detonated from here?"

"Roger roger." The tactical droid said nonchalantly, "My datapad is already connected to them. I am ready to detonate them at any moment."

"Good. Do not detonate until I say so. I want to make sure our little rebel friend and his oversized iguana are still in range."

The taller Ra'zac stepped towards the General, chittering out, "We would gladly ssssscout the area and bring the traitor to yo-"

"No." Grievous interrupted the cloaked monster harshly, "I want you to remain here. I want to send this Rider and his Varden a message."

"What kind of messsssage then?"

Grievous addressed T-502, ignoring the Ra'zac's question, "Send out a few probe droids. I want to know his exact location."

Grievous strolled over to the massive door that adorned the room's side. Using his claws, he forced open the large wooden block. The light of the late afternoon rolled into the room as the General walked onto the balcony, his MagnaGuards close behind. The Ra'zac hissed at the hint of sunlight, retreating into a shaded area, in order to observe the General without the sun's rays glaring on them.

The mountainous spires of Helgrind stuck out to the southeast, now much more damaged than usual. When Grievous had arrived, the spires had been magnificent, albeit, crude-looking. Now, the magnificence had faded and the crudeness had risen, with visible cracks in the stones, distinct even from this far away.

And the damage to the structure had only just begun.

* * *

 **Okay, phew, that took a bit longer than expected, but, hey, here we are with Chapter 5!**

 **Hopefully Chapter 6 won't take as long.  
**


	7. And The Spires Come Tumbling Down

Eragon had his fair share of experience with interrogation, both on the giving and on the receiving end of it. He had endured countless torturous questionings from Durza during his capture at Gil'ead. He had prevailed over the Twins when they had attempted to break into his mind at Farthen Dûr. He had broken into the minds of scores of Galbatorix's pet magicians and agents under the Varden's orders.

However, none of those obstacles had tried his patience nearly as much as these two remaining iron soldiers did...

"No..." Eragon groaned as he rested his face in the palm of his hand, _"GAL-BA-TOR-IX._ Do you recognize that name?"

"Uhhh..." The soldier with the green markings looked at his tan companion, who returned his gaze, "...who again?"

The iron soldiers, who referred to themselves as "droids", had been fairly cooperative to the trio, having not put up any intended resistance since the skirmish in the tunnel. After their surrender, they had been marched outside of Helgrind and back to the piles of stone that the droids had been collecting before Eragon and his comrades had ambushed them. There, they had their oddly shaped, three-fingered hands bound with dead vines from a nearby tree, which Eragon then magically reinforced to make them into more effective bindings.

Once they had been successfully restrained, the Rider made many attempts to enter the minds of the creatures, seeking to find explanations and insights into the strange beings and their sudden appearance, as well as any information on Katrina or the Ra'zac. However, his attempts failed abruptly, as Eragon could not detect even a _hint_ of a consciousness…in either one of the droids. Not even a speck of fear, or a spark of anger. It was literally as if he had attempted to probe the mind of a boulder.

After the initial shock of not detecting a consciousness faded, Eragon then resorted to old fashioned verbal questioning. Although it was certainly more insightful than the mental attempts, the droids proved to be very...moronic, when it came to answering his questions. At least, in the way Eragon and his allies would have hoped.

Behind the soldiers, Saphira shifted as she let out an irritated groan, blowing out a few puffs of smoke from her nostrils. The dragon's patience had died long ago with the first string of unintelligible answers from the iron creatures. Were it not for Eragon's desire to keep questioning, she probably would have killed both of the captives already. Still, it did not stop her from expressing her annoyance and boredom to her human partner.

 _This interrogation is pointless, Eragon._ Saphira growled as she lowered her snout, making it parallel with the droids' slanted heads, _All we have learned from them is that they work for some Confederacy of Independent...whatever, and that they are quite possibly the dumbest individuals we've ever encountered. We should just kill them and find Katrina on our own._

 _That still doesn't explain what they are, or why they're here._ Eragon retorted. Despite their seeming lack of knowledge anyone in Alagaësia over the age of ten would know, the metal creatures intrigued the Rider. He wanted to get anything he could out of them, before Saphira tore their heads off.

Eragon kneeled down and looked into the green one's unmoving eyes(or at least what he _hoped_ were its eyes) and narrowed his own as he gazed into them. He shortly thereafter broke the brief silence with another question, this one much more direct in its approach; "Why are you here?"

"I'm sorry, but that's classified information. Strictly for the ears of Gen-" The droid's boast was instantaneously cut off by a low, rumbling growl from the cerulean dragoness behind them. The growl actually caused the green droid to nervously whimper and look back at Saphira in fear.

Eragon then used his fingers to guide the droid's head back to facing him, to which he then replied, half-lying to the creature, "Look. I don't want to kill you. But if you don't stop giving me nonsensical answers soon, I'm going to let my dragon dismember you and play with whatever is left after she does so. So, if you wouldn't mind, I would very much like to know what exactly you, your fellow droids and your strange contraption were doing here."

"But in telling you, I would be violating my protocol!"

Eragon let out a loud groan of frustration, kicking a small pebble away as he took a short, angry stroll. He circled the group as Roran, Saphira and the droids all observed him doing so. His mind raced to many different places in his brief rage, ranging from violent ways of torturing the metal creatures, to amazement at their incompetence in continuing to resist him. Finally, he returned to the green colored droid, and asked a question he probably should have asked already, but had neglected to for reasons he did not know; "What do you know of the Ra'zac?"

"The Ra...what?" The droid answered, not surprising its interrogators. This time, Roran followed it up with a description of his own; "Monsters that resemble shrivelled birds with beetle-like eyes. They wear black cloaks, ride deformed, flying monstrosities, and are the actual residents of this godsforsaken mountain you tried to dig through. What do you know of them, and have you seen them?"

The green droid remained silent for a second, seemingly trying to remember, before he responded with, "No...sorry, we don't know of any monsters like that…"

Just as the humans' wary expectations were met, they were also immediately reversed when the tan droid spoke up to its friend, "That kind of sounds like those strange aliens that brought the starving humans to General Grievous last night."

Every face turned to the droid as it spoke, with Eragon and Roran's faces turning from looks of annoyance to looks of simultaneous surprise and alarm. Finally! The idiotic imps had given out some useful information! Granted, it was somewhat vague, but it was still at least _getting somewhere_.

 _We'll take what we can get._ Eragon said mentally, knowing Saphira could hear him. He and Roran then both hurried over to the tan droid. Roran ended up beating his cousin to the question they both were thinking of; "You saw them? Starving humans? Where?! When?!"

"Uhhh…" The droid, taken aback by the sudden astonishment being leveled at him, hesitated for a moment, before answering, "...last night...in a courtyard in that city…"

The droid pointed towards Dras-Leona with its bound hands. Eragon's heart sank ever so slightly as the new revelation dawned on him. Katrina, and possibly Sloan too, were now in one of the Empire's largest cities, in the hands of an individual named "General Grievous." He immediately questioned upon the identity of the said general, "General...Grievous? Who is that?"

"The...the leader of the Droid Army...and our immediate commander. He actually gave us the orders to mine the peaks for-"

The green droid immediately used its bound hands to smack its comrade on the shoulder. The tan droid stopped speaking abruptly, much to the chagrin of the interrogators. Roran let a growl escape from his throat as he further questioned the creature, "Mine the peaks for what exactly?"

As the droid let out another chorus of hesitant whimpers, Eragon looked to the pile of rocks a few yards away, the same one that the platoon had set up less than an hour ago. Amongst stack of black stones were some glints of color, shining brightly against the sunlight of the morning. Their hue attracted Eragon, and the Rider quickly strolled over to them, catching the attention of his bonded mount.

 _What is it, Eragon?_ Saphira asked, arching her head to view where her Rider was heading to. Roran and the droids turned their attention to him as well as the dragon did.

Eragon did not respond. Instead, he grabbed one of the stones and turned it over. Although much of the surface was still made from the dark material of the peaks, there was one part that stuck out from the rest of the block. A small, white colored crystal that sparkled as the light hit it.

Intrigued, Eragon plucked the crystal from the stone it was encased in and fondled it between his fingers as he examined the specimen. It certainly didn't look like anything special, just a simple shiny stone. But, as he continued to eye it, something within him began to stir. It suddenly felt as if he had some sort of fire within his guts; a burning sensation that had seemingly sprouted from nothing. Almost as if Saphira's inner flame had taken hold in his own body.

But it did not hurt, quite the opposite in fact. It seemed to be filling him with a feeling of similar to that of his bond with Saphira. As if this crystal was of the same energy as his own dragon.

Saphira felt it too and slowly began to walk towards her Rider, letting out a hum from her throat as she approached. When she arrived, Eragon held the white crystal up to her, and she let out a breath as she sniffed it. She hummed again, letting out some smoke as she spoke, _There is a deep magic within this stone. It feels...almost alive in a way._

 _This is...strange..._ Eragon said simply. He shifted the crystal to his palm as he walked past Saphira, clenching it in a fist. He walked towards the position of the captives, where the droids glanced up at him as he hovered over them. He wasted no time in asking, "What do you want with these crystals?"

The droids did not speak for a few moments, instead opting to blankly stare at the Rider. Eragon repeated his question, heat now growing in his clenched palm. He paid it little mind as he awaited an actual response from the iron soldiers. The tan droid eventually broke the ice and began to speak, "Well, we don't know exactly, but General Grievous said that-

"That we were to mine the crystals and get them back to him without question!" The green droid interjected, sparking a bit of annoyance from the three interrogators. To his left, Eragon could see Roran grip his hammer tightly in preparation.

"Well, that _and_ he told us to destroy-"

"To destroy any resistance we encountered while doing so!" The green droid interrupted once more, "Which, as you can see, has failed horribly! I suppose now-!"

Before the droid could complete its statement, Roran reared back his hammer and brought it forth quickly, connecting the flat of the head with the lower part of the green droid's face. The resulting collision not only smashed the creature's face inwards, but also completely dislocated the neck from its torso. The head was sent flying into Helgrind's side, where it hit with an audible _thump_. The droid's body sputtered for a second, small bits of lightning shooting from the wound on its top, before it collapsed to the ground.

The tan droid whimpered as Roran planted the hammer beneath its chin. Eragon and Saphira watched as Roran simply stated, "You were saying…?"

The droid glanced towards its now dead companion, and then back to Roran and Eragon, who both awaited a proper answer. It then fearfully forced out, "G-General Grievous t-told us to mine the crystals and to be e-extra careful with them. Something about a power w-within them...at least, that's what I overheard when he spoke to the commander…"

"What kind of power exactly?" Eragon asked. Before the droid could answer however, the heat in Eragon's hand grew again. Confused, he opened his hand and examined the crystal. It did not glow, nor did it seem to give any indication that it was emitting heat. But, nevertheless, the crystal seemed to be warming his hand the longer he touched it.

The droid said something in response to the question, but Eragon was too mesmerized by the strange crystal to hear it properly. A tap on the shoulder from Roran snapped Eragon out of it, and the Rider quickly put the crystal into his pocket, "Repeat your answer, please. I didn't hear you."

The droid repeated itself, "I don't know...we only got orders to excavate the crystals, not to do anything else with them. My programming probably couldn't even begin to comprehend what General Grievous wants to do with them."

"You said you were to destroy something after you gathered the crystals," Roran inquired this time around, "destroy what exactly?"

"Uh...the mountain…"

Eragon glanced towards the blackened spire behind the droid, and then back to their captive; "You mean...Helgrind? You were ordered to destroy the peaks themselves?"

"Uhhh...roger roger…" The droid confirmed. Eragon immediately followed it with a question of his own, indicating towards the newly made tunnel as he spoke, "And was it your plan to bury yourselves with the peaks after your burrowed through it?"

"Negative. We had planted charges throughout-" A familiar whirring sound caught the droid's attention, causing it to look above the heads of the interrogators. Eragon followed the creature's vision, turning around, only to spot three of the spider-like creatures, identical to the one Saphira had attempted to eat earlier. The dragoness growled as the creatures descended upon them, their strange, warbling groans filling her and her Rider's ears. The floating spiders eventually ceased their descent once they were mere feet above the ground. They continued to circle the group, watching them intently with their single, glowing eyes.

Eragon grabbed his staff and swung it into a defensive position, whilst Roran backed up to him and Saphira hovered over them both. They were ready for anything that the iron creatures could throw at them. However, as the trio prepared for the spiders to attack, the droid stood up and said, "Our probe droids? They should still be surveying the surrounding area, not returning here…"

"Well, tell them to back off then!" Roran replied, still gripping his hammer in preparation for an attack.

"They can't be told to retreat, they have to be commanded to from one of our datapads. But don't worry, they're not dangerous at all." The droid paused for a moment, as if it had just realized something, "Actually, those probably aren't ours. They're probably scouting for another battalion."

Upon hearing the droid's last sentence, Eragon made a haste decision and shouted out, "Kill them! Quickly!"

"Uhhh...that won't work!" The droid's reaction was lost in a sea of noise as Saphira let out a rumbling growl, before snatching up one of the droids in her maw, crushing it with sparks of lightning shooting out. The fiery sparks shocked Saphira's inner mouth and the dragon spat the broken spider out.

Roran swung at another one of the probes and brought his hammer smashing into its side. The weapon dented the droid's side, causing it to spiral to the ground, its legs kicking the air above it. Roran quickly finished it off with a second, crushing blow to the spider's body. Eragon lunged towards the last of the three, throwing his staff at it. Angling the hawthorn like a spear as he aimed for the spider's eye, the wooden staff penetrated the eye, causing the probe's whirring to become more frantic and and its movements to become more rapid.

Eragon quickly rushed to the side of the captured droid, and grabbed the light-launcher he had taken from the earlier skirmish. Taking only a few seconds to properly aim, the Rider pulled the launcher's trigger, letting out several shots at the floating probe.

The first few red beams missed and shot off into the distance, disappearing from sight in mere seconds. However, one eventually hit the center of the metal hide, piercing through it with a small shower of sparks. The probe's whirring became suddenly distorted as some black smoke began to emerge from its cracked eye. It made a new chirping noise that became rapidly higher as it made an attempt to fly away. Unfortunately, as soon as the chirping noise ceased, the probe violently exploded in a fury of flames, sending remaining pieces of both its body and the staff towards the ground.

The two humans shielded themselves as some of the debris landed in their vicinity. Once it had cleared, Eragon lowered the light-launcher and faced his companions with a sigh of relief. Saphira panted slowly, Eragon noticing a throbbing sensation in his own throat, likely from the shock of the probe's lightning blood. He asked her, _Are you alright?_

The dragon faced him and responded, _I'll be fine, little one._

Nodding in acknowledgement, Eragon strolled over to the droid and stood him up. As he did, he said, "Let's get to a safer distance. We can continue our interrogation when Dras-Leona is out of sight."

Roran was quick to jump in front of Eragon in protest, "What about Katrina? We can't just leave her there with monsters like the Ra'zac and...these _things_! We have to try and do something!"

"There's nothing we can do, Roran." Eragon replied solemnly, "We can't assault an entire city by ourselves. Especially not if there are more droids in it. They're going to send more troops after us anyways once they realize that their scouts have yet to return!"

"Actually, they probably already know that you destroyed the probe droids…" The droid interrupted, "In fact, they've probably already initiated their response. Likely another battalion, or some vulture droids, or…"

The sounds of explosions echoed from the tunnel, catching the ears of the four. As they glanced towards the opening, the explosions continued, albeit becoming more muffled, as if moving deeper into the rocks of the peaks. This also culminated in some violent vibrations coming from Helgrind itself, a few of the smaller spires collapsing from the new pressure akin to an earthquake.

Eragon and Roran backed up, glancing nervously at the peaks, as the droid uttered one phrase; "Uh-oh…"

Explosions continued throughout the peaks' inner bases, causing the ground to go from simply vibrating to violently shaking, causing rocks to fall from loose parts of the tall spires. The explosions eventually ceased afterwards. But then came the rumbling…

A low, building rumble became ever so apparent, where it mixed with the quaking, indicating a major fault within the peaks. Eragon watched in horror as Helgrind's massive three peaks began to form cracks on their surfaces. The left of the three even lost a good portion of its top from a small collapse. His gaze then shifted downwards as larger cracks formed at the mountain's base, causing the _entire_ structure to buckle for a split second. It was at this point that a realization finally hit Eragon.

"RUN! _NOW_!"

The Rider began to sprint away from the peaks as fast as he could, Roran struggling to keep up to the half-elf's sheer speed. Saphira hurried behind them, extending her wings in preparation. The droid did not follow them, instead opting to run in a different direction. Eragon only saw it out of the corner of his eye, and could not make out its fate. He paid it little mind, however, as he was busy with his own problem at the moment.

Helgrind buckled a few more times, before its base gave out and the entire mountain began an immediate downwards plummet. Dust and rocks were kicked up as the wave of debris began to rapidly descend upon the grounds around the peaks. Helgrind's end quickly began to catch up to the trio, with small pebbles bouncing off of Saphira's hide.

The dragoness picked up her pace and pressed off the ground, taking flight behind the humans. She angled her front paws, reaching out and grabbing Roran in her right one, before grabbing Eragon in her left. Saphira then sped up as fast as she could, flying past the stone altar that the Priests of Helgrind used for their rituals. Eragon glanced down as they passed over it, only to witness it be engulfed by the sea of stone from the peaks' fall.

The loud collapse of Helgrind could likely be detected for miles around, as even while airborne, Eragon could feel the quaking of the ground. A cloud of dust had formed around the peaks' former position, with stones, both big and small, occasionally bursting through to form a part of a pile. Seconds later, and the rumbling ceased, signifying the end of the collapse. Saphira circled around the cloud of dust, the gusts from her wings clearing the air around her. Eragon and Roran looked down as she did, their faces lighting up in shock at what they saw.

The spires, which once stood taller than any palace in Alagaësia, were now reduced to simply a massive pile of rocks. Parts of Helgrind were even still collapsing, with the middle of the three spires briefly holding its lower half up. Unfortunately, it too collapsed as its base was bombarded by the large stones of the rest of the mountain's rubble.

 _Holy… Saphira! Take us down!_

The dragon followed her Rider's order and set the two down before landing herself. Eragon and Roran, still under the influence of adrenaline, almost sprinted up to the rubble that just minutes before had been an intimidating structure.

Eragon could not believe it. Somehow, these droids had managed to topple one of the largest peaks in Alagaësia outside of the Beors, using weapons and technology far beyond anything either the Varden or the Empire had in their respective arsenals. It was...more than a bit unsettling, to say the least. Especially when they did not know exactly know how many droids were in Alagaësia at the time...or how powerful they exactly were.

"Did that...really...just happen?" Roran panted out, as simultaneously confused and horrified by the situation as Eragon was.

"It did…" Eragon confirmed with a heavy breath.

 _What kind of magic allows creatures such as these to topple even mountains?_ Saphira projected to her human companions, hints of similar concern apparent in her voice. Upon hearing her question, Eragon glanced down, noticing the droid light-launcher he still clutched tightly. He slowly took one hand off and turned it to its side, briefly examining it, all while his finger still rested on the trigger. He was half tempted to destroy the weapon right now, out of fear of what it could do. However, he resisted the temptation and readjusted his grip from the handle of the weapon to its top.

"We need to go. _Now_." Eragon warned as he strolled to Saphira and placed the light-launcher into the saddle bag. He then climbed atop her and, once situated himself, offered a hand for Roran.

Roran looked towards Dras-Leona once more, wearing a face that expressed both fear and worry. Eragon sighed as he continued, "Roran, if the Ra'zac could harm her, they would have already. Galbatorix probably wants her alive."

"Then, we have to at least _try_ something!"

"We can't! Even without this new droid threat, Dras-Leona has scores of Imperial soldiers _and_ magicians. Not to mention the Ra'zac are there now, and Murtagh and Thorn could be anywhere nearby! Saphira and I might be strong, but we are not _that_ strong."

Roran hesitated, glancing back at the city one last time, before giving a defeated sigh and taking his cousin's hand. Once he was aboard Saphira, Eragon loudly said, "We need to get back to the Varden! Saphira, fly as fast as you can! Nasuada needs to know about the droids!"

The dragoness immediately took off, speeding towards the south as fast her wings would allow. Their steady beating soon set in around the trio. Eragon drowned them out as he leaned back, reminiscing over the events of the past few hours.

* * *

The growl that barely escaped Grievous' mask was low and deep. It was intimidating enough that a few of the surrounding battle droids backed away a few paces from the General. But it was not an angry growl, more so a contemplative one.

His yellow eyes squinted as he witnessed the blue speck rise up from the dust cloud hovering above the rubble, before swerving and landing beside the former mountain again. A few minutes later, and the streak reappeared, this time angling itself to the south and speeding off into the distance, before disappearing entirely from sight.

The Rider had survived and he had escaped, contrary to Grievous' original plan. Yet, the Kaleesh cyborg had kept his temper under control from the turn of events. In fact, Grievous was not even all that angry that his target had fled. Since Galbatorix did not want him to eradicate the Varden completely yet, he would turn this new annoyance into an opportunity to "test" the Varden's resolve in combat. If he couldn't devour his prey just yet, then he would pick at and toy with it.

To his right, T-502 watched the dragon's departure as well. The tactical droid waited until mere seconds after it had vanished from sight to ask the General, "Shall I send out vulture droids to pursue, General?"

"No…" Grievous replied calmly, "...let them go. We can use this as an opportunity…"

"An opportunity for what, General?"

Grievous half-answered the question with one of his own, "Is there another tactical droid currently in the city?"

T-502 replied without hesitation, already knowing an answer to Grievous' query, "T-115 commands a battalion of AATs and infantry, and is currently awaiting orders, General."

"Tell him to move his troops southeast, ahead of the main force. Tell him to head for the village of Furnost and to _wait_ there until I contact him personally."

"Yes, General." The tactical droid responded as it typed away on its datapad, walking off to perform its duties.

It was then when a growling noise caught Grievous' ear. Like sandpaper grinding against metal, the noise was akin to a sickly animal desperately trying to thwart off a potential attacker. Having a suspicion of _what_ exactly the growl belonged to, Grievous turned around.

Behind him were the Ra'zac, having emerged from the shadows. The shorter of the two stared at Grievous directly, its blackened eyes staring needles at him. Its beak chittered as it released the grating growl from its lips. The Ra'zac's right hand hung limp at its side, the hand curled slightly. Its left hand reached behind itself, clearly grasping at something.

The taller Ra'zac did not look at Grievous. Instead, it peered over the balcony, staring at the remains of the spires in the distance. Its beak moved up and down as it attempted to form a coherent sentence, letting out only dumbfounded chirps for a few moments. Eventually, it quietly forced out, "You...desssstroyed it…"

"Speak up." Grievous irritably commanded, not fully hearing the Ra'zac's statement.

"The mountain...our home...you've dessssstroyed it…" The taller creature turned to face the General, standing behind its more angered companion, "Why?"

"The mountain was already unstable," Grievous lied, "I simply used it as an opportunity to bury our foe in a river of rocks before he could escape."

"But he hasssss escaped!" The taller Ra'zac retorted, "And becassssse of that, our home has been reducccced to a pile of rubble for _nothing_!"

"An insignificant loss." Grievous growled back, "One that will easily be made up for once the Rider has been dealt with."

"'Inssssssignficant?!' I'll show you insssssignificanccccce, creature!" The shorter Ra'zac's growl went to a snarl as it revealed a black, leaf-shaped sword from beneath its cloak, before sprinting and pouncing on to Grievous.

The suddenness of the attack surprised Grievous, as even with his metal body, the creature's momentum managed to force him to back up a pace. For a few short seconds, the Ra'zac even managed to hold the General at bay, its sword unsuccessfully attempting to pierce his chestplate and its beak trying desperately to bite through the durasteel of his neck. However, once the brief shock of the attack wore off, Grievous let a snarl of his own that made the Ra'zac's sound like the squeak of an infant animal.

The General's left claw forced itself onto the Ra'zac's neck, wringing around with enough strength to cause the monster to gag. His right one instead sharply gripped its sword-wielding hand, jerking it away from the mechanical body with extreme speed. As he pried the Ra'zac from his neck, Grievous pushed the creature to the floor, where it landed on the flat of its back. Stunned, the Ra'zac dropped its sword and let out a wheeze of surprise.

This time, it was the General's turn to draw his weapon. He quickly reached into his cloak, grasping the first cylinder he felt within. His finger clicked the activation knob as he pulled on the hilt. Not even a millisecond after he had brought the lightsaber out, and it was already activated, an emerald blade sparking to life against the darkened room surrounding it. Grievous wrapped both of his hands around the hilt and took a step forward. In his blind rage, he did not consider the ramifications of striking down one of Galbatorix's most feared servants. Instead, he simply acted as per his instinct. With a loud roar, the cyborg raised the lightsaber overhead and brought it down, intending on cutting the vermin in two.

He did not hit his intended target. The taller Ra'zac had quickly rushed to its companion's side and had pushed it out of the blade's way at the last second. The lightsaber instead connected with the taller one's face, letting out a hiss as it struck flesh. The Ra'zac itself let out a hiss that matched that of the weapon as a sword of fire sliced through its face. Its claws went to grasp its face as it collapsed to the ground, writhing from the pain and rolling onto its stomach. It wasn't a deep enough cut to actually kill the creature, at least, not from the angle Grievous had swung from.

The shorter Ra'zac, now recovered from being slammed onto the ground, hissed angrily as it witnessed its partner take the blow from Grievous. It got onto all fours and prepared to pounce the General again. The attempt was crushed before it could be initiated, however, as staffs of violet electricity proceeded to plant themselves onto the shorter one's back. The now alert MagnaGuards were ready for any threat against their General and had acted accordingly.

The Ra'zac cried in pain as the brief but painful electrocution set in, collapsing next to its wounded companion after the bodyguards removed their staffs. With the two seemingly defeated, the MagnaGuards held their activated staffs over the Ra'zac, intent on suppressing any more attacks from the monsters. Behind Grievous, he heard the familiar sounds of blasters cocking, indicating that security battle droids had entered the room. Sure enough, the maroon accented B1s appeared next to the General and his bodyguards soon after, aiming their weapons at the Ra'zac.

Grievous took a moment to compose himself, now only holding the lightsaber with a single hand. His seething rage receding, the General began to think more rationally, but no less angry than before. Letting out a low but still audible growl, he took a few steps towards the duo, facing the shorter Ra'zac in particular. He briefly glanced at the taller of the two, noticing how its painful hissing continued as it covered its face, attempting to soothe the burning pain from the lightsaber's wound. Grievous then planted his metallic foot onto the Ra'zac shoulder blade, pressing down with the bladed talons and piercing through the armor-like skin of the creature. Another shriek of pain sounded from the taller Ra'zac as the durasteel foot of the General stabbed into its body.

The shorter Ra'zac looked up as its partner hissed, long enough to glimpse at Grievous' claw grabbing its throat once more. It emitted various choking sounds as it desperately tried to pry the iron fingers away from its neck, but it was to no avail as the Kaleesh cyborg leaned closer. Once his mask was mere inches from the demon's face, Grievous brought the green lightsaber closer to the Ra'zac. As it slowly neared, the bird-like creature writhed, attempting to back away from the light and heat of the blade, only to be anchored in place by the claws of the General.

Grievous only stopped once the plasma of the saber was close enough to burn the Ra'zac's skin without actually cutting into it. The monster's hiss was at a higher pitch than its companion as the torture set in, steam coming from the contact of skin and energy. After it had burned a noticeable mark onto the creature's flesh, Grievous retracted the blade into its hilt. He then addressed the Ra'zac in a tone that expressed nothing but a blatant threat; "Listen to me, vermin. You may strike fear into the hearts of the pitiful humans of this world. But _I_ do not fear you. Your weapons will have no effect on me. Your natural abilities will not prevail over my enhanced physicality. _YOU ARE NOTHING MORE THAN A FLEA TO ME._ "

The General dropped the Ra'zac, who wheezed and grasped at its own throat as it gasped for air. The hood of the cloak draped away from its boy, fully revealing the shriveled head to the General and the droids. Under his mask, what was left of Grievous' face couldn't help but smirk at the sight of the weakened monster, which now held an expression of fear as it cowered towards its partner. Grievous looked to the taller Ra'zac, who despite the burn to its face and the talon implanted onto its back, still observed the situation with similar wariness. He removed the foot with a sharp yank, causing the Ra'zac to jerk up and slam back down with a grunt of pain. A small stream of purplish blood emerged from the holes the talons had carved into its back.

Grievous called off the MagnaGuards and battle droids with a motion of his hand. The multiple droids quickly deactivated or lowered their weapons and backed away, with the security droids returning to their usual posts.

"Stand them up." Grievous commanded. The MagnaGuard followed their directive and forced the two Ra'zac onto their feet. The General immediately took notice to the wound that graced the taller one's face. A diagonal slash going from the right side of the head, across the bridge of the beak and ending near the creature's neck. A fading orange glow could be seen, but would soon be reduced to a simple black slash of burnt flesh.

Grievous addressed them again, now much calmer, "Try anything like that again, and I will personally draw and quarter you both myself. Am I understood?"

The taller of the two nodded bleakly, while the shorter simply averted Grievous' gaze, angrily shaking as it pulled its hood over its head once more. The MagnaGuards' hands held them up in iron grips, but soon released them with a gesture from Grievous, "Then go. I suggest you find a new lair for your vile selves."

The Ra'zac quickly, albeit weakly, left the room. The shorter of the two retrieved its sword as they walked out. Grievous and the droids watched them closely as they departed, each one of them still tightly gripping their weapons in preparation for another surprise attack. Only when the monsters had completely left the room did the Separatists ease themselves. Grievous returned the lightsaber to his cloak as he turned to face T-502. The tactical droid had watched the spectacle without a sound, and only now did he speak, asking a question.

"Will you take your leave then, General?" The question seemed to disregard the entire commotion that had preceded it. Grievous simply growled out in response; "Yes. The city is now under your jurisdiction, Commander. I will take my leave tomorrow morning."

"Thank you, General." The droid's thanks was simply a programmed response to a superior, however, Grievous swore he could detect a hint of smugness in the tone of the tactical commander's voice.

The Kaleesh General's talons scraped the metal as he departed from the room, one of them tipped in the plum-colored blood of the Ra'zac. The four MagnaGuards trailed him close behind, and the room fell silent once more as the droids returned to their duties.

* * *

 **Okay, so, it's been a while.**

 **This chapter was not really fun to write, with the only part of it I actually liked being the last bit with Grievous and the Ra'zac. But, I'm glad it's over with. I can now continue on with the story at a brisk pace hopefully.**

 **Also, a bit of an announcement with this update. I've edited my bio on my profile page to be a sort of progress guide for my stories. So, if you're curious as to how my progress is going, feel free to check my info on my profile page!**

 **See you all next time.**


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